Estonia launched the world’s first initiative to integrate ChatGPT Edu and other education specialised AI tools into a national education system, the Estonian government, OpenAI and Anthropic announced on Monday.
At the 1 September start of the next school year, 20,000 high school students in grades 10-11 and their 3,000 teachers will get free access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Edu and other AI tools, according to a government press release.
The plan is to expand the programme to vocational schools and new incoming 10th grade students the year after, adding a further 38,000 students and 2,000 teachers to the pool, it continues.
“Estonia’s competitiveness depends on how well we can prepare young people for the age of artificial intelligence,” said Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas, adding that Estonia will invest strongly in teacher training as part of its “AI Leap.”
The programme will be funded by a public-private AI Leap foundation, developed by the President’s Digital Council, the Ministry of Education and Research, and assisted by “numerous private entrepreneurs,” including Taavet Hinrikus, Jaan Tallinn and Kaarel Kotkas. The foundation’s specific tasks, members and funding model will be agreed upon in March.
Negotiations have begun with OpenAI and Anthropic with plans to involve more providers, reads the press release.
”Estonia is creating a model that other countries will likely follow,” said Neerav Kingsland, head of business development at Anthropic.