In this episode, Michael Horn and Jeff Selingo interview Matthew Pittinsky, co-founder and CEO of Blackboard, about how AI could revolutionize or usurp learning management systems (LMS). Pittinsky discusses how LMS navigated changes brought by previous technologies, such as the smartphone and cloud computing, and what makes the switch to AI so compelling. In particular, Pittinsky highlights the value of personalized learning and providing students with “a study companion that’s deeply embedded in the course context,” as opposed to an interface to just navigate course content.
Reflecting on the possibilities and risks for schools, Pittinsky notes that AI can be “your best friend, who also happens to be the TA in every course, and knows the deep domain of every single one of the courses that you’re in. Something you can’t get on the general Internet, that’s one of the moats that I think institutions have, is the content course repository. So I just think it’s so compelling to have a natural desire for what institutions want to support in their learning, but have been unable to do so because of the economics of it.”