While some fear AI might replace traditional teaching, supporters argue that smart tools can bring back the human touch.
Adam Mangana, CEO of virtual education provider OptimaEd, says public skepticism around new learning tools is as old as history itself.
"Socrates was skeptical of books. He thought men would lose their memories, they would no longer be great orators," Mangana notes. "I think a lot of the fear is warranted in that people are concerned that students are going to lose the importance of relationship in schools."
Rather than substituting human interaction, he argues that AI should be implemented deliberately to automate administrative tasks—freeing up teachers to focus on their students.
"We really want to invest in the supply side of the equation, where we're empowering teachers to focus on the relationship and take away a lot of the mundane tasks that can be automated using AI," Mangana relays. "How can we build tools that allow teachers to focus more on the things that make us more human? That's the promise, the future I see with the use of AI."
Last week, New York City decided to temporarily restrict student-facing AI in elementary and middle schools. The nation's largest school system cited worries about children's ability to develop independent problem-solving skills and maintain meaningful human interaction.
Instead of replacing humans, Mangana thinks AI should "augment the human experience."
For parents heading to school board meetings this fall, Mangana has one clear piece of advice: ask for education, not automated shortcuts.
"We want parents demanding AI literacy, not AI dependence," he says.
In 2022, seeking to rebuild the classroom as a place where students actually want to be, Mangana launched Optima Classical School, the world’s first virtual reality charter school.
"We didn’t set out to build a bigger school — we set out to build a more human one, where technology serves connection instead of replacing it," the website details.
From that first virtual reality classroom, it has grown into a full K-12 program based on the belief that the right technology, used well, can make learning feel alive again.
