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WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 12: The headquarters of the Department of Education are shown March 12, 2025 ...
More in Washington, DC. The Department of Education announced yesterday that it will reduce its staff by nearly 50 percent, leaving the department with 2,183 workers, a reduction from 4,133 when U.S.
President Donald Trump took office for his second term. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) AI agents will transform every industry—and one industry I know well is education. So, how will AI agents change how we teach and learn? To explore this question, I created the Lutz-Clone , an AI version of myself designed to teach my online certificate about AI with eCornell.
This clone looks like me, but more importantly, it contains my knowledge and teaching style. It can help students code, discuss AI applications, and raise awareness of ethical challenges — all without me being physically present. eCornell was one of the first universities to offer such a clone, but this is only the beginning.
The shift to AI agents is a broader trend that will reshape every industry. If you follow me on LinkedIn , you’ve probably heard me say: “ AI is just a tool. ” There’s no magic, and no Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—at least not yet.
Like any tool, AI’s value lies in how we use it and what purpose it serves. Today, students and educators alike use tools like Perplexity, You.com, and ChatGPT to write emails, research topics, and summarize texts.
These Large Language Models have become essential, trained to predict the next best word in a sentence, enabling smooth text generation and summarization. For students, Large Language Models have become indispensable. And while some institutions attempt to restrict their use — saying "don't use ChatGPT" — this is as unrealistic as banning the internet or books.
The real question is: What are the meaningful changes in education? Traditional quizzes are becoming obsolete. Standardized tests like the Medical College Admission Test can now easily be solved by AI. In my own courses, I built a library of multiple-choice questions over the years to test students on machine learning and real-world AI applications.
Since 2023, ChatGPT has consistently passed every single one of them . Instead, we should shift from quizzes to conversations. In a world where knowledge is instantly accessible, education should focus on critical thinking and dialogue.
I now use AI to discuss outcomes with students, encouraging them to evaluate, question, and apply their knowledge — something multiple-choice tests could never achieve. This change isn’t limited to my course. Every teacher can implement this.
The simplest way is to use a GPT-based assistant. But, like any change, it comes with challenges: Teachers can’t just post articles anymore. To enable meaningful AI discussions, we need to highlight the key takeaways.
For example, when we created a GPT to discuss Marc Andreessen’s article “Why AI Will Save the World”, we focused the conversation on three points: There is hype. It makes sense for Marc to talk about the hype. Technology needs integration.
Not every student has access to paid versions of ChatGPT or similar tools. That’s why the team at eCornell did the incredible work of seamlessly integrating my Lutz-Clone and ChatGPT into the Canvas learning platform. This ensures teaching assistants can follow all student discussions and step in when needed.
I’ve long used checklists in my teaching — whether it’s launching a product, building an AI model, or cleaning up data. But not every situation requires every step in the checklist. Now, we use AI co-pilots to make checklists dynamic.
These co-pilots guide students to focus on what matters most, adapt when conditions change, and skip unnecessary steps. The AI does the heavy lifting, while students stay focused on decision-making and learning. Personalized Feedback — An AI Teacher Available 24/7 In my course, AI-based teaching assistants provide tailored feedback on student projects.
Students upload their capstone work, and the AI critiques it—just like I would. This gives students access to a personalized teacher anytime, anywhere. It’s a game-changer.
What I’ve done is scale myself. The AI mirrors my teaching style and follows the course’s learning path. Unlike generic AI tools, this clone is fine-tuned to introduce concepts logically and progressively.
For example, I often explain that “neural networks are just stacks of logistic regressions”—a simplification that only makes sense after students learn about linear functions and activation functions. The future of education is not about letting ChatGPT teach students directly. It’s about educators designing learning paths—and then using AI to scale their impact.
AI is a powerful tool, but it’s still just a tool. It will change our workflows and how we teach, but the core responsibility remains with educators. We must focus on two essential skills: How to use AI effectively How to recognize its limits AI models like ChatGPT excel at predictable, patterned tasks but struggle with novelty and edge cases.
For instance, when you start the phrase “Life is like a box of...
”, AI will almost always suggest “chocolates”—because that’s what it has seen most often. But real learning happens when we move beyond the obvious. Similarly, when asking AI to do advanced, context-specific tasks, like writing firewall code, the output is often outdated or generic.
Educators must help students recognize these limitations and teach them how to use AI critically. AI In Education - A New Way of Interaction AI tools are revolutionizing how we interact with information and technology. In my course, students now use AI co-pilots to: Analyze data Build machine learning models Discuss business strategies Explore ethical challenges However, this transition wasn’t automatic.
Many students were hesitant at first, sticking to manual methods. But with training on prompting and understanding AI behavior, they became faster, more efficient, and more confident. Just like learning to use a calculator or Google effectively, learning to collaborate with AI takes practice.
AI is reshaping education—moving us away from memorization toward reasoning, understanding, and critical thinking. With personalized AI tutors, students can learn at their own pace, anytime. The challenge is clear: Educational institutions must equip both students and educators with the tools and skills to harness AI effectively.
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