AI education dialogue calls for urgent rethink of learning systems in AI era

Mumbai, Jan 13 (PTI) A high-level dialogue, hosted by Reliance Foundation and Central Square Foundation, called for an urgent reimagining of education systems to harness artificial intelligence for equitable and scalable learning outcomes.

Held at Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai, the half-day roundtable brought together more than 50 leaders from philanthropy, edtech firms, academia and the private sector as an official pre-summit event of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, the organisers said in a press release.

Participants examined how AI-enabled education tools can move beyond pilots to deliver measurable learning gains, particularly in low-resource and multilingual settings.

The discussion culminated in a set of strategic insights to inform national and global deliberations at the upcoming summit, with speakers emphasising sustained collaboration among governments, innovators, researchers, funders and industry to embed AI meaningfully within education systems rather than as standalone solutions, it said.

Delivering the keynote address, Shailesh Kumar, Chief Data Scientist at Jio and Dean of Jio Institute, said education systems must be redesigned for a digital- and AI-first world.

"It is time to re-imagine our education system - what should it look like if it were born today - in the post-connectivity and AI era," he said, calling for a shift from one-size-fits-all models to personalised, mastery-based learning enabled by AI.

Participants highlighted emerging AI use cases across personalised instruction, teacher support, assessment and home-based learning, particularly in early childhood education and foundational literacy and numeracy.

However, they cautioned that technological innovation alone does not guarantee improved learning outcomes, stressing the need for alignment with learning science, inclusion safeguards and outcome-based measurement.

A key focus of the dialogue was the role of philanthropy in enabling systemic change. Speakers underscored its importance in de-risking early-stage innovation, supporting long-term evidence generation and building institutional capacity.

Insights were shared from the LiftEd EdTech Accelerator, a multi-year initiative that has reached over 3 million children, supported by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Reliance Foundation and UBS Optimus Foundation.

"Building AI and EdTech for impact is not just about the technology itself - it is about understanding the ground realities of implementing it in classrooms, homes and communities," said Vanita Sharma, advisor for strategic initiatives at Reliance Foundation.

The discussion also highlighted challenges to scaling AI-enabled learning, including multilingual content needs, low-bandwidth environments, shared-device usage and integration with government education systems.

"The next frontier for EdTech is not just innovation, but scaling proven, contextualised solutions through government systems and community adoption to drive learning outcomes at scale," said Gouri Gupta, senior project director for EdTech at Central Square Foundation.

Participants concluded that AI must act as an enabler for teachers and parents, reinforcing equity rather than efficiency alone. The recommendations from the dialogue will feed into the education agenda at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled to be held in New Delhi in February. PTI ANZ BAL BAL