How is AI Being Used in Education?

From Chatbots to Avatars — Where “AI Teachers” Already Work in U.S. Schools

Artificial-intelligence tools have moved well beyond auto-grading and plagiarism checks. In dozens of districts they now act—under human supervision—as reading coaches, homework helpers and always-on teaching assistants. Below is a snapshot of the most visible pilots and roll-outs, plus practical questions to ask if your own school is next.

K-12 District Spotlights

• Los Angeles USD (CA) launched Ed, a home-grown GPT-4 companion that curates lesson resources for every child and pulls grades, assignments and adaptive practice into one dashboard for families; the nation’s second-largest system activated it for all 560,000 students in March 2024.
  Source: CLICK HERE

• New York City DOE (NY) teamed with Microsoft to create a generative-AI teaching assistant that offers real-time code and math feedback; after a 2023 pilot in three computer-science classes, the bot is expanding to additional high-school math programs during the 2025 school year.
  Source: CLICK HERE

• Newark Public Schools (NJ) piloted Khanmigo at First Avenue School; positive results unlocked funding for a district-wide roll-out in 2025.
  Source: CLICK HERE

• East Hartford & Lebanon (CT) joined a state-backed AI pilot that brings the secure MagicSchool suite (lesson planning plus student chatbots) into grades 7-12 through June 2025.
  Source: CLICK HERE

• Louisiana (statewide, K-3) is scaling Amira, a voice-AI reading tutor that listens to oral reading and coaches fluency; more than 46,000 early readers are already using it.
  Source: CLICK HERE

• Jordan School District (UT) partnered with SchoolAI in 2024 to provide avatar coaches and SEL check-ins that teachers can pause or monitor in real time; classrooms went live this spring.
  Source: CLICK HERE

• Granite School District (UT) is piloting teacher-controlled SchoolAI chatbots in history and science classes on an opt-in basis during 2024-25.
  Source: CLICK HERE

• Douglas County SD (CO) is preparing an 18-school pilot of Khanmigo that mixes AI tutoring with teacher-productivity tools, slated for spring 2025.
  Source: CLICK HERE

• Nationwide momentum: a recent 60 Minutes segment reports that Khanmigo is already active in roughly 266 districts across the country.
  Source: CLICK HERE

Campus Experiments in Higher Education

• University at Buffalo (NY) has used a 3-D avatar named “Kevin” since 2019 to mentor teacher-education candidates and undergraduate tutors, expanded through an NSF-supported EASE grant.
  Source: CLICK HERE

• Morehouse College (GA) rolled out 24/7 AI teaching avatars in April 2025; the avatars, trained on professors’ lectures, answer student questions whenever faculty are offline.
  Source: CLICK HERE

What Counts as an “AI Teacher” in 2025?

1. Generative-AI chatbots that scaffold student thinking instead of spitting out answers (e.g., Khanmigo).

2. Voice- or vision-based tutors that give immediate, skill-specific feedback (e.g., Amira for reading).

3. Avatar TAs that re-present a professor’s expertise on demand (e.g., Kevin at UB, Morehouse avatars).

4. Personal-assistant dashboards that weave grades, assignments and adaptive practice into a single workflow (e.g., LAUSD’s Ed).

Across every model, licensed educators remain in charge—AI handles routine feedback, differentiation or Q&A so humans can devote more time to higher-order instruction and relationships.

Three Questions to Ask When Your School Introduces AI

1. Data & Privacy – What student information does the system collect, and where is it stored?

2. Human Oversight – How are educators trained to monitor, adjust or override AI suggestions?

3. Evidence of Impact – Which learning-gain metrics will decide whether the district keeps, tweaks or drops the tool?

Key Takeaways for Families & Educators

• Expect rapid change. Most initiatives are six- to eighteen-month pilots; districts will pivot as outcome data, budgets and new state privacy rules evolve.

• More pilots lie ahead. States including Colorado, Indiana and Illinois are drafting grants that could add dozens more districts to the AI-teacher roster in 2025-26.

• AI is a supplement, not a substitute. Early wins—instant feedback, adaptive practice, extra language support—surface precisely because teachers stay in the loop.

This roundup isn’t exhaustive, but it captures the highest-visibility programs where AI has moved from novelty to bona-fide instructional support—still side-by-side with humans, yet edging closer to that sci-fi idea of a true “AI teacher.”

Article by Mary Miele, Research Supported by Generative AI.

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