ACM Logo  An ACM Publication  |  CONTRIBUTE  |  FOLLOW    

Educators and AI Tutors: Complementary or competing roles?

By Natalia Echeverry / January 2025

TYPE: OPINION
Print Email
Comments (2) Instapaper

The use of AI tutors in online education raises questions about the future role of educators—such as instructors, facilitators, and tutors. AI tutors emulate human tutors, and soon, distinguishing between an AI and a human tutor may become challenging. This prospect presents exciting potential but also raises questions about the overlapping functions these two may have. Are the roles of AI tutors and educators mutually exclusive, or can they be complementary? 

As with other generative AI applications, the AI tutor holds the promise of increasing educators’ productivity. Many believe this will translate into more time for “meaningful interactions” between learners and educators [1].

In 2023 alone, a handful of AI tutors emerged in the online educational landscape, beginning with Khanamigo and Coursera Coach, followed by CheggMate and Synthesis Tutor [26]. They all respond to a diverse pool of learners and varying learning scopes. Yet all share the same pedagogical principles and roles, which have been typically associated with educators [46]. These tools are designed to mimic interpersonal interactions with a human tutor and can do so on a larger scale and at a faster pace [3]. They might even support learners more effectively than the best human tutors [47].

Redefining Roles

One of the primary roles of tutors in online learning is to facilitate interpersonal interactions, which include group and one-on-one interactions with learners. The social and most humanistic aspects of tutoring are within reach of the conversational AI tutor. It will not be long before AI tutors are capable of assuming the role of tutors and facilitators in online courses. They will not only help with administrative tasks and lesson planning but also undertake responsibilities that were once deemed exclusive to human tutors. The roles traditionally associated with educators in online learning environments are modeling effective teaching and managing communications by supporting active learning, metacognition, motivation, and adapting content to learners’ goals and needs, among others [2, 7, 8].

AI tutors may soon be able to take on many roles traditionally associated with educators, especially in online education. When this scenario becomes a reality, what will meaningful interactions between educators and learners look like? Failing to redefine the roles of human educators in contrast to AI tutors may result in a future where AI tutors spend meaningful time with learners while human tutors focus on fine-tuning the models that drive these tutors. If that is the case—and it likely will be—the AI tutor may serve as a proxy for meaningful interactions between educators and learners, while the direct interactions that educators have may become more focused on content and educational technology tools.

Call for Reflection

The deployment of highly capable conversational AI tutors is triggering a fundamental change in education—a change that calls for reflection on the role of educators in the online learning landscape. Is it possible to believe in the promise of generative AI in education while also working to keep human interactions at the center of it? This brings me to another question: In the context of an online course with specific learning goals and objectives, where the scope of what will be discussed and evaluated is well defined, does an interaction between a learner and a tutor need to involve direct human interaction to be meaningful? 

References

[1] Bloom, B. S. The 2 sigma problem: The search for methods of group instruction as effective as one-to-one tutoring. Educational Researcher 13, 6 (1984), 4-16.

[2] Sahlman, W. A., Ciechanover, A. M., and Grandjean, E. Khanmigo: Revolutionizing learning with GenAI. Harvard Business School Case, 824-059, November 2023. (Revised April 2024.)

[3] Singer, N. Dependence on tech caused ‘staggering’ education inequality, U.N. agency says. September 6, 2023. New York Times. from

[4] Fore, P. Coursera’s CEO says leveraging AI in online learning is key to a more accessible, flexible education experience in 2024. Fortune. July 15, 2024.

[5] Dastin, J. 2023. ChatGPT's AI to power Chegg study buddy as educators wrestle with tech. Reuters. April 17, 2023.

[6] brennancolberg. Synthesis Tutor – Math tutor for children (synthesis.com). Hacker News. June 8, 2023. 

[7] Jurenka, I. et al.  Towards responsible development of generative AI for education: An evaluation-driven approach. arXiv preprint arXiv:2407.12687. 2024.

[8] Berge, Z. L. Facilitating computer conferencing: Recommendations from the field. Educational Technology 35, 1  (1995), 22–30.

About the Author

Natalia Echeverry is an instructional designer at the University Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Pittsburgh. She holds an M.S. in human-computer interaction from the Rochester Institute of Technology. She focuses on designing engaging and effective online learning experiences for adult learners. Echeverry is currently exploring user-centered interface design for AI-based systems, with a focus on online learning environments.

© Copyright 2025 held by Owner/Author. 1535-394X/2025/01-3708896 $15.00 https://doi.org/10.1145/3712586.3708896


Comments

  • Mon, 09 Jun 2025
    Post by Jane Marcus

    THE BLACK MIRROR IS POWERFUL. Who could believe that I would be rich someday? but Baba Powers made it possible with the black mirror which I purchased from him. Thanks to him because the black mirror reveals the secrets, unlock the power. I came across various testimonials which state how the black mirror has been of good and great help to them. I also contacted Baba Powers on his email; [email protected]   to also experience it for myself. I am really happy to get the black mirror. Thank you Baba Powers for your special black mirror. You can also view his website and you will see amazing testimonies from people that he has helped. His website is; Babablackmirrorsofpowers.blogspot.com  I urge you now to contact him and you will never regret it. 

  • Mon, 09 Jun 2025
    Post by Becky Smith

    Baba power is Real and powerful. Hello friends, I am Becky Smith. This is so real and unimaginable. When you contact Baba Powers, please never doubt him. Believe whatever he tells you, and do whatever he tells you to do. The black mirror can cast a spell, bring love and light, bring you riches and wealth, fortunes, good luck, power, respect, freedom, success, fame, etc. IN FACT, THE BLACK MIRROR IS A FORTUNE WHICH IS WORTH POSSESSING. I have the black mirror which I bought from Baba Powers and it is awesome and amazing to have it. This is not a fallacy of any type. This is real and this is reality. I will continue to give testimonies online about Baba Powers and his powerful black mirrors. I want the whole world to know of him and how powerful he is and how useful his black mirror has been to me. I beg you to contact him now so that you can also buy the black mirror from him; [email protected]    and he also have a website; Babablackmirrorsofpowers.blogspot.com  Oh Baba Powers, God bless you always and forever. Thank you.