Can adaptive algorithms replace traditional instructors?

My initial reasoning for choosing this focus and looking at AI within education is due to the extreme shifts I have seen and experienced within the educational realm due to its implications and power, especially in a generation that is relying more and more on technology for everyday use. I have experienced professors praising its abilities in every class, debating students talking otherwise, educators wanting to steer away from ai and technology based learning all together and have recently seen on social media a school system that runs almost entirely through AI and AI mediated programs supporting its students in what seems to be an incredibly evolutionary way. This institution is called Alpha school and is what sparked my interest and wanting to dive deeper into this topic most. 

Alpha School:

The school offers a schedule unlike any standardized school. It dedicates only two hours of core academic focused lessons through AI technology then leaves the rest of the day for students to engage in a variety of workshops and real-world skill building.

Their website Alpha.school, states, “Alpha combines adaptive AI for personalized 1:1 learning, mastery-based methods for deep understanding, and time management techniques like Pomodoro to keep students focused and thriving.” Although the institution is based online through AI mediated programs and assistance It is my understanding that the program is available in a school like setting. However, instead of teachers, students are accompanied by “Guides” who’s role is to provide mentorship rather than direct help with schoolwork. According to their site, the support provided by adaptive AI tools act to monitor student progress, generate practice materials, and adjust pacing to meet individual needs. 

What is Adaptive AI:

To my surprise when investigating further on what adaptive AI really is or means, the first response I was given was by googles AI which gave in my opinion a well rounded answer. According to the Google AI response (personal communication, October 2nd, 2025), “Adaptive AI is a type of artificial intelligence that learns and improves over time by interacting with new data and its environment, rather than following static rules. It dynamically adjusts its behavior, optimizes its performance, and makes autonomous decisions without human input, allowing it to adapt to changing conditions and provide more accurate, personalized, and efficient outcomes. Key techniques include machine learning and reinforcement learning.” After seeking more clarification I came across a site called markovate.com which explains these systems and different implementations of them in great depth. My take away is that adaptive AI acts as it is powered by reinforcement learning from the user rather than pure algorithmic processes. This structure allows the AI to actively improve efficiency over time. However, this makes me wonder how accurate its understanding of what’s more or less helpful to a learner really is especially during the initial stages of interactions unless it is connected through the entire institution of students but this could also have implications. Here is a video that showcases the reinforcement approach in a more visual way as well.

Core questions I am left with after researching AI based schooling and ways adaptive algorithms may work to “replace” educators:

From my initial research and exploration I’m left with a handful of questions each linking back to the question of how effective can AI really be in replacing educators? Here is my list of wonders at the moment that I’d like to dive into further.

• How are institutions like Alpha school using AI in such a nuanced way to effectively instruct entire lessons, units, and personalizations to fit diverse needs?
• Is this the future of education? If so, how is this possible or developing further to be?
• Is this active use of technology healthy for students everyday learning?
• How is Privacy & Data Safety ensured with programs / AI monitoring student progress and possibly wider technology use.
• What is personalized learning to AI?/ How is AI able to accurately provide this to individual learners?

Inquiry Plan:

I’m attempting to approach this inquiry with little to no bias around AI and with more of a curiosity stand point. AI is such a powerful and growing system that is intertwining more and more with education and teaching which has been such a personal and human based practice for centuries. I’m captivated to learn more about the ways these opposite entities can actually be similar and if AI is truly able to replace a human teacher and all they provide. To attempt at uncovering this I plan to research questions that arise to do with AI’s use in education, look into ways different AI tools can be used to create lessons, compare human made lesson plans with AI generated plans, and document reflections through these blog posts followed by tracking progress of research on Trello.