Weekly Wisdom #313 - The future of education is here

AI Education, Thinking in Bets, VO2 Max Testing, Calorie Tracking & Flying Cars

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Happy Sunday!

I often tell people that my ideal yearly schedule would look something like: summers in Nova Scotia, spring/fall in Montreal, and winters somewhere warm(ish).

One of the major long-term stumbling blocks to a lifestyle like that is education. How do your kids learn if you're moving around all the time?

In the age of AI, the actual knowledge learning will be less of a problem:

Noah Smith 🐇-->

@Noahpinion

Basically, lots of educational research shows that 1-on-1 tutoring is the one educational technique that kicks the crap out of anything else.

Now, with AI, it'll finally become cost-effective to give everyone a private tutor.

The Diamond Age approaches. https://twitter.com/eladgil/status/1901446715858985463

Elad Gil

@eladgil

Why AI based tutors are going to be such a big deal

1:1 tutoring = 2 sigma improvement in learning achievement

Image from "The 2 Sigma Problem: The Search for Methods of Group Instruction as Effective as One-toOne Tutoring" by Benjamin S. Bloom

12:23 AM • Mar 17, 2025

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The Alpha School in Austin is one of the schools that's already taking advantage:

Matt Bateman-->

@mbateman

The software platform at Alpha School is a surprisingly little known, given (a) how good it is at core academics, (b) that it’s coupled to a great school model, and (c) how hot a topic AI in education is.

Feels like a secret, except it isn’t one.

11:50 PM • Mar 16, 2025

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And tools like Synthesis Tutor are making AI-based 1-on-1 education accessible for all.

I experienced a bit of the magic myself when I tried out ChatGPT's Advanced Voice mode to practice my French.

I have no doubt that had I had the chance, I would have preferred spending my math classes with a personalized tutor, progressing at my own pace.

Like much of AI, I don't think these tools will replace human jobs—in this case teachers—but rather allow them to do more with less, offering customized progression for each student, and letting them focus their time on who needs it most.

Tools like these don't completely answer the "can-I-travel-all-the-time" question: much of the benefit of school is in learning to navigate social dynamics.

But it does seem like they might take care of a lot of the pure education part.

Have a great week!

Graham

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Links

📚 Book Notes: Thinking In Bets - Annie Duke - I just started reading Annie Duke's new book, Quit, and it seemed a good time to revisit my notes on her previous book.

This is one of my favourite books around decision-making, and I use the principles every day.

💪 At-home VO2 max testing - There have been a number of studies correlating VO2 max—essentially a measure of your cardiovascular "max" effort—with longevity.

Some wearables give you an estimate, but it's hard to find lab-grade testing, and it's a pain to do. This wearable, while expensive, promises to give you consistent testing ability without the lab requirement.

💻 Cal AI calorie tracking app - A good example of how AI will continue to change/improve our lives, this app has been making waves with its ability to estimate calories from a simple photo.

I tried it last week and it correlated pretty well with barcode-based tracking on MyFitnessPal.

🚁 "Flying cars" continue to get closer - Startups like Ehang, building person-size drones, have been reporting big growth in sales, and beginning to test across the world, not just in China.

I may not be correct in my prediction that flying cars beat self-driving, but both seem pretty close to reality.

Tweet of the Week

Especially with all the AI-based technology today, there's never been a better time to learn new things.

Alex Hormozi-->

@AlexHormozi

If you're willing to suck at anything for 100 days in a row, you can beat most people at most things. The bar for excellence has never been so low. Most of your "competition" quits after the first sign of difficulty because they've known what hard feels like.

9:55 PM • Mar 22, 2025

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