AI and Learning

As AI enters classrooms, it could extend individualized instruction to students who have never had access, or it could become a substitute for the human relationships students need. I study when and how AI can strengthen, rather than replace, the human support at the center of learning, from tools that give tutors real-time guidance to the adult support that helps students engage with AI tutors. As a National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow, I am testing how an AI coach can help tutors build relationships with students and sustain their engagement. I am also lead author of a forthcoming research agenda for learning and schooling in the age of AI.

Relevant Work

2026. “From search engine to thought partner: What do teachers use AI chatbots for?” (with Ana T. Ribeiro, Benjamin Leivas, Chris Agnew & Susanna Loeb), Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education.

2024. “Bridging the novice-expert gap via models of decision-making: A case study on remediating math mistakes” (with Rose E. Wang, Qiyang Zhang, Susanna Loeb & Dora Demszky), Proceedings of the 2024 Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics.

Working Papers

Forthcoming. “A research agenda for learning and schooling in the age of AI” (with Chris Agnew & Susanna Loeb), SCALE Initiative, Stanford University.

“Tutor CoPilot: A human-AI approach for scaling real-time expertise” (with Rose E. Wang, Ana T. Ribeiro, Susanna Loeb & Dora Demszky).

“Access is not enough: Human support improves engagement with AI tutoring” (with David Gormley, Ana T. Ribeiro & Susanna Loeb).

Public Writing & Press

The 74. “Even With Human Help, Kids Need Motivation to Use AI Tutors. The Question Is What” (2026).