Like many, I’m continually experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) in my work and personal life to get a sense of where it can be most helpful – whether that’s using ChatGPT to summarize insights from a large report or to support my ongoing efforts to become conversational in Spanish.
Although these technologies are still in the early stages of development, they have a potential impact far beyond personal efficiency and skill-building. In fact, our Foundation partners and grantees are giving us a glimpse of how these new technologies could reshape our education-to-workforce systems and advance more equitable outcomes for everyone.
How AI is Supporting K-12 Teachers and Students
The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results showed that only 21% of 12th-grade students scored at or above proficient levels in math, down from 24% in 2019. This decline reflects the significant learning disruptions caused by the pandemic, on top of an already shockingly low percentage of students nationally who lack math proficiency. This is especially true of the students at the center of the work in our K-12 Strategy, who are typically furthest from experienced teachers, high-quality curriculum, tutoring, and other supports – Black and Latino students and students from low-income households.
This inequity limits career options, as math proficiency aligns with problem-solving skills that 57% of employers report they need. It also reinforces harmful narratives discouraging some students from believing they can excel in math. Innovative AI-enabled platforms have the potential to address these challenges, and we’re starting to learn how they can help improve K-12 instruction and student engagement.
I saw firsthand how our partner Khan Academy’s AI-powered teaching assistant, Khanmigo, is transforming math instruction when I visited with teachers at First Avenue School in Newark, New Jersey, earlier this year. Although this tool is still being piloted and there’s plenty of room for improvement, teachers can benefit from automated lesson planning and student progress summaries so they can focus on meeting each child’s needs and students receive personalized problem-solving support and constructive feedback.
Another partner, Saga Education, is working to use AI to scale its in-school, high-impact math tutoring model. Students participating in Saga’s in-person tutoring sessions progress through Algebra I at two to three times the rate of their peers in one academic year. If that kind of impact could be achieved through an AI-enabled tutoring platform, the potential to support students across the country is exciting to consider.
Improving math instruction and student engagement is central to our K-12 Strategy, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. For students to successfully transition from high school to college and the workforce, they need comprehensive support systems. Technology can play a role in helping close advising and opportunity gaps.
How AI is Helping Remove Barriers across Critical Student Transitions
From the student’s perspective, education is one linear journey with different phases that lead to the workforce. However, as students navigate complex transitions, gaps in advising and career planning create barriers.
Because advising supports are often unavailable in public high schools, particularly those in under-resourced communities, students from low-income households who have the greatest guidance needs can experience uneven access to counselors and support. Additionally, access and opportunity gaps have resulted in only 61% of Black and 58% of Latino high school graduates immediately transitioning into a postsecondary program after high school compared with 70% of their white peers.
Evidence shows that advising, early college coursework, dual enrollment, internships, and work-based learning opportunities increase students’ chances of succeeding across these transitions.
AI-enabled and mobile-friendly chatbots and virtual assistants are helping students, particularly those from low-income households, understand their postsecondary options and apply for financial aid.
I’m excited about the work we’ve done with our partner Shift to understand how to expand the reach of college and career advising to all students by augmenting human support with AI. Shift collaborated with the following organizations focused on integrating AI technology into human-centered advising – Bottom Line, OneGoal, KIPP Public Schools, Let's Get Ready, College Advising Corps, and Mainstay – and produced resources to benefit the field.
How AI is Helping People Experiencing Poverty Get on a Path to Economic Mobility
This commitment to leveraging AI for greater access and equity aligns closely with our efforts to support people experiencing poverty. The 45 million people within our Economic Mobility and Opportunity Strategy’s focus population – 52% of whom are eligible for safety net benefits – can face significant barriers to improving their financial security.
Overall, mobility from poverty is decreasing in this country. One example is that 90% of children born in 1940 earned more than their parents, but for children born in the 1980s, that figure has dropped to 50%. Additional factors such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status continue to predict economic security, and women and Black, Latino, and other people of color often face additional barriers due to sexism and racism.
Economic mobility is a very long-term goal, but there are supports that people need right now to achieve financial stability while climbing the economic ladder. Our partner, Propel, uses technology to help millions of families meet basic needs by navigating complicated government systems and accessing safety net benefits like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Propel’s AI-powered mobile app streamlines processes for eligible recipients, securely connects them to their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) accounts – alleviating the need to collect and track paper receipts – and provides information and answers to their questions about the program.
Beyond helping people navigate complicated systems, AI also helps those experiencing poverty improve their financial health. For instance, it’s estimated that 3.8 million people in our focus population experience bankruptcy and wage garnishment, over 16 million of them struggle with unmanageable debt and more than 26 million lack access to credit.
We’re working with Upsolve to expand its AI-powered financial counseling tools to provide free, personalized recommendations on debt management, credit improvement, and access to critical financial resources for individuals. To date, this technology has helped thousands of people eliminate over $600 million in debt.
Aligning our Education Systems and Job Markets is Paramount to Leveraging AI’s Potential
These examples, along with others in education, highlight the transformative potential of AI to address systemic inequities and drive better outcomes across the education-to-workforce continuum. However, fully realizing this potential requires more than just technology—it depends on aligned and collaborative efforts across state and local systems to ensure these tools reach everyone, especially the people who need them most.
Philanthropy plays a vital role by accelerating innovation, supporting evidence-based solutions, and identifying scalable strategies. However, scaling these advancements requires a shared cross-sector commitment, as well as a renewed effort among education leaders and state and local policymakers to address the lack of alignment across our K-12 and higher education systems and job markets – something technology alone cannot fix.
For me, AI remains a powerful tool that can help pave the way toward a future where everyone—regardless of background—has the skills, knowledge, and agency to thrive in an ever-evolving economy.