A school built around AI, not teachers

A private school that does away with teachers and leans heavily on artificial intelligence is already attracting families, despite charging $55,000 per student. The idea is simple enough, if a little futuristic for the sake of being futuristic: AI handles much of the learning, while adults called “guides” step in for support and life skills work.

The school is Alpha School, which already operates 22 campuses across the United States. Its newest campus is in Chicago, where two students have already enrolled for next year and just under 40 more are said to be interested, according to CBS.

How the model works

At Alpha School, students reportedly spend up to two hours a day learning from AI before taking part in life skills workshops led by a guide. These guides are real people, but the school is careful not to call them teachers. In education, terminology matters almost as much as the tuition bill.

Founder Mackenzie Price told CBS, “We are using the same curriculum that students in the classroom are learning from. This is not ChatGPT coming up with made-up questions.”

That distinction seems to be doing a lot of work here. The school is presenting its approach as a structured alternative to standard classroom instruction, not as a chatbot improvising its way through algebra.

AI is already reshaping parts of education

The broader context is not exactly subtle. AI has become increasingly common in everyday life, and education is no exception. Students use it to help with research, while others have been known to rely on smart glasses during exams. Teachers, unsurprisingly, have been trying to clamp down on that kind of thing.

Alpha School takes the opposite position. Instead of trying to keep AI out of the classroom, it makes AI the main attraction.

It is not the only unusual experiment in education either.

  • In Japan, Tokyo-based company Luminaris launched its service Wish High in February, with classes taught by VTubers.
  • Young farmers are also being taught through Farming Simulator 2025, which has been described as a “digital twin” for the real job.

So yes, the future of education is apparently a mix of algorithms, avatars, and a very expensive tuition bill. The only part that still looks familiar is the invoice.