An Equitable approach to incorporating AI in Mathspace
Introducing Milo, Our AI Tutor
At Mathspace, we've dedicated the past 12 months to harnessing the transformative power of artificial intelligence in mathematics education. Our journey wasn't just about integrating AI into the classroom; it was about finding the best use case for AI that truly enhances learning outcomes and engagement. After extensive research and development, we're thrilled to introduce Milo, our AI Tutor, designed to redefine the way students interact with and understand mathematics.
Addressing Educator Concerns around AI adoption
Integrating AI into education comes with its set of challenges. In a presentation I made at the NSW Department of Education Innovation Showcase I shared five major concerns and how we were addressing them at Mathspace:
- Cheating: Developing robust mechanisms to ensure that AI aids learning without facilitating dishonesty.
- Hallucinations (Factual Errors): Incorporating advanced prompting techniques, relevant context and human evaluations to minimise errors and ensure the accuracy of the information provided by our AI.
- Teacher Visibility and Control: Ensuring that teachers remain at the helm, with comprehensive oversight and control over how AI is utilized in their classrooms.
- Safety: Prioritizing the digital safety and privacy of students and educators in every interaction with Milo.
- Equitable access: a significant aspect of Milo's development involves leveraging OpenAI's GPT-4, which comes at a cost. Balancing the covering of that cost with equitable access and affordable adoption models was an important consideration.
Flexible and Affordable Adoption Models
Education technology should empower, not exclude. To this end, we are committed to making Milo accessible to all, regardless of economic background. We believe educators should lead in designing learning experiences in an AI-driven world.
However, understanding the budgetary and technological constraints schools often face, we've devised two adoption models to ensure Milo's benefits reach as many students as possible:
- Individual Subscriptions: For students or parents looking to enhance their learning journey with Milo, we offer an individual subscription model at $10/month. We hope that this provides a genuine alternative to expensive tutoring options at a fraction of the cost.
To ensure students and parents are getting the value they are looking for before purchasing Milo we will provide students with 5 free problems per month to chat with the Milo AI Tutor and then provide the option to subscribe for unlimited AI tutor messages. Subscriptions can also be cancelled at any time.
- School-Wide Subscriptions: For schools committed to a unified approach to AI in education, we offer a whole-school subscription at an incredibly affordable rate of $5/student/year. By sharing message caps across an entire school we can reduce prices significantly and demonstrate our dedication to making AI an integral, equitable part of the educational ecosystem.
The Path Forward
We want Milo to be more than just an AI Tutor; but a step towards an equitable, innovative future in education. By offering these two models, we aim to accommodate the diverse needs of schools, families, and students, ensuring that Milo can be a part of every student's learning journey.
Our vision for Milo is not just about academic achievement; it's about building a foundation for lifelong learning, curiosity, and problem-solving skills. As we roll out Milo, we invite educators, students, and parents to join us in this exciting new chapter of maths education.