The ‘Godfather of AI’ Sees a Future for Education, and It Starts With a $65,000 AI School

Summary:

• Geoffrey Hinton praises Alpha School for AI-driven education, reshaping teacher roles and student learning with personalized, efficient instruction.

• Alpha School’s model, with high tuition costs, emphasizes AI-driven apps, individual mentoring, and life skills development alongside academics.

• Despite praise for its speed and personalization, critics question the trade-offs of Alpha School’s approach to education.

When Geoffrey Hinton, the computer scientist often described as the “Godfather of AI,” talks about technology, it is usually with caution, even regret. But during a recent interview with BBC Newsnight, Hinton offered rare praise, pointing to one example that made him feel optimistic about artificial intelligence: a fast-growing network of private schools called Alpha School.

Hinton described AI-driven education as one of the best uses of the technology he helped pioneer. Alpha School, he said, stands out for how it reshapes the daily work of teachers and the way students learn.

Instead of traditional lectures, Alpha students complete core academic subjects such as math, reading, and science through AI-powered learning apps. The work takes about two hours a day. Afternoons are reserved for projects, social development, and what the school calls “life skills,” from public speaking to building physical objects. Teachers, rebranded as “guides,” focus less on delivering content and more on mentoring students one-on-one.

“A normal teacher is in broadcast mode,” Hinton said in the interview. “With an AI tutor, the AI can always be telling you the answers to questions you actually wonder about, and you learn much faster that way.”

Alpha School is not subtle about the price of this experiment. Tuition ranges widely by location, from about $10,000 a year in some regions to as much as $75,000 in places like New York City and California. Many campuses fall closer to the $40,000 to $65,000 range.

School leaders say the costs reflect heavy investment in software, data systems, and staff. According to Alpha, teachers are paid a minimum of $100,000 annually to attract top talent. Guides are expected to spend significant individual time with students, helping set goals and troubleshoot personal challenges rather than teaching specific academic lessons.

The model has attracted attention far beyond the education world. Business leaders and investors have praised Alpha’s promise of speed and personalization. The school claims its students learn roughly twice as fast as peers in traditional settings and score in the top percentiles on national growth assessments, though it has not released state standardized test data.

Hinton’s endorsement comes with context. The researcher has repeatedly warned that artificial intelligence poses serious risks, from job displacement to the potential loss of human control over advanced systems. In the same interview, he said he was saddened that his life’s work had become, in his view, “extremely dangerous.”

That makes his comments on Alpha School notable. He framed the school’s approach as a rare example of AI complementing, rather than replacing, human roles.

“This is a much better use of a teacher’s time,” Hinton said, arguing that freeing educators from repetitive instruction allows them to focus on social interaction, creativity and emotional development.

Critics question the trade-offs

Not everyone is convinced. Some education experts and parents worry about the heavy reliance on screens and the reduced presence of traditionally trained teachers. Videos shared by the school showing students working alone in small, enclosed “pods” have sparked backlash online, with critics calling the environment isolating.

Others question whether compressing academic instruction into two hours risks sacrificing depth, especially in subjects like history and literature. Alpha counters that its software adapts material to each student’s level and interests, keeping content age-appropriate while adjusting complexity.

The debate reflects a broader tension in American education, where technology use surged during the pandemic and has not yet receded. Alpha’s approach pushes that trend to its logical extreme.

Alpha School now operates campuses in states including Texas, California, Florida and New York, with more planned. About a quarter of its students receive scholarships, funded through a mix of tuition and donations, though access varies sharply by location.