Recently, Ben Gomes, Google’s Chief Technologist for Learning and Sustainability, visited Japan and held a special dialogue with President Teruo Fujii for the students of the University of Tokyo, focusing on the future of AI and education. Both addressed students' most pressing questions while discussing the universal essence of “genuine learning” and the essential human skills required for an ever-evolving market.

In this era of profound change, how can AI enhance the learning experience for everyone? Here’s what Ben discussed during this dialogue — plus insights from our white paper, "AI and the Future of Learning."

Amplifying curiosity with AI

We often hear concerns that AI might become a shortcut that hinders true learning. Genuine learning requires challenging yourself, struggling and exercising your brain's predictive capabilities. Simply asking AI for an answer is not true learning.

Instead, AI should be a tool that amplifies our curiosity. In the AI age, we believe that the questions you ask will be just as important as the answers. When utilizing technology to solve the pressing challenges the world faces — from sustainability to poverty — AI gives us the power to understand complex concepts across multiple disciplines. Use AI to simplify complexity and focus your energy on solving the pressing, real-world challenges that truly matter. However, the drive for exploration, the passion, and the emotion must always begin with us humans.

Emphasizing the importance of educators

A frequent question in discussions about AI is whether it will eventually replace teachers. The answer is a definitive no. In fact, we believe the presence of educators will be more important than ever.

Your desire to learn comes from engaging with human teachers and parents who see you, listen to your voice and genuinely care about your growth. By utilizing AI, teachers can save a significant amount of valuable time so they can focus on direct engagement. Research shows that teachers have saved up to 10 hours a week on tasks thanks to AI. Using this valuable time, teachers will be able to walk around the classroom, facilitate group learning and focus on the indispensable human connections needed to draw out learners' motivation.

Bridging the digital divide with personalized learning

For technology to serve everyone fairly, equal access is essential. We believe that thoughtfully introducing AI into schools can actively reduce divides, rather than creating new knowledge gaps. In any learning environment, some people will advance quickly while others may need a little more time. Serving in the role of a personalized tutor, AI can understand the misconceptions of struggling learners and help them catch up. For example, it can provide multimodal learning options, such as converting text into audio podcasts for those who process information better by listening.

Designing AI as a guide to walk alongside you

Google's goal is to design AI that genuinely enhances the educational process by functioning like a tutor that stays close to each individual. We support genuine learning experiences through the development of AI models like LearnLM and Gemini.

We believe our responsibility goes beyond simply developing tools; it is about continuously exploring the impact these tools have on a learner's growth. To that end, Google is launching a joint study with the University of Tokyo, targeting university students across Japan to evaluate the effectiveness of using AI in learning. The goal of this research is to gain academic insights into how AI-assisted learning is most effective, as well as where improvements are needed.

The world is full of wonderful questions. We believe that by combining our inherent spirit of inquiry with the tool of AI, we can open entirely new doors to problem-solving and discovery.