Andover plans to implement Khanmigo into classes beginning in the spring. Developed by nonprofit Khan Academy, Khanmigo is an AI (artificial intelligence)-powered teaching software designed to guide students through the learning process without simply providing solutions to problems, according to Caroline Odden, Dean of Studies. Its arrival comes as other AI models like ChatGPT are being used among students, prompting discussions on how Khanmigo may affect learning on campus.
Khanmigo has been widely considered for its potential to tutor students who may not have access to a tutor in person. Odden explained the advantages of Khanmigo over other academic tools.
“Khanmigo is an AI-powered tutoring tool that is designed to help students learn by asking questions and encouraging critical thinking. Unlike typical tools that tend to simply provide answers, Khanmigo acts a bit more like a personal tutor,” wrote Odden in an email to The Phillipian.
At the start of spring term, all students will be able to test Khanmigo to evaluate its value. Erin McCloskey, Associate Director of Technology for Educational Initiatives, elaborated on the rationale behind introducing Khanmigo to Andover.
“Part of the appeal was that [Khanmigo is] something that by design encourages students to focus on the learning process… we know there are all kinds of reasons why people use AI for all different reasons. The idea is to give students the opportunity to do something that’s more educationally designed to promote engagement and thinking,” said McCloskey.
McCloskey continued, “The other part that the Head of School was interested in was acknowledging that some students here can take advantage of private tutors and some can’t. We don’t know yet how effective this tool will be… but the hope is that it can offer some kind of tutoring that no one has to pay for and to see if there’s perhaps an advantage in that way for students that can’t get private tutors for themselves.”
Philip Molina ’28 noted that students may be less likely to use Khanmigo than AI models that generate immediate answers. He emphasized that Khanmigo’s design differs from how students typically use AI on campus, impacting the extent of its benefit to Andover students.
“I hope teachers can consider that students with access to Khanmigo, most definitely have access to other AI models that could give them the answer without having to show them the work. That alone may defeat the purpose of Khanmigo. Khanmigo itself is rendered useless with the presence of other AI models that can perform the same task and even more. By releasing it to students, it may encourage them to let AI not give them the answer themselves and not have to filter out [direct answers], but I don’t think it will do too much good,” said Molina.
Kate Bourgeois ’27 suggested that students should be given more time to adjust to Khanmigo during its implementation. She mentioned that the shift from prohibiting AI in classes to allowing it for certain tasks may feel sudden for students, stressing the necessity to avoid depending on AI for academic guidance.
“It’s important not to become dependent on [Khanmigo] and it will take getting used to. Most students know how to use AI at this point, but it should be gradual because having this new resource is a really drastic change and people will have to get used to having that as an option. Students weren’t really allowed to use it last year, but now some of my teachers allow me to use AI to look for sources, but the change should be more gradual because I’m used to getting told that we shouldn’t use AI as of last year,” said Bourgeois.
Bourgeois suggested that the usage of Khanmigo could change how often students seek human-based resources on campus.
“Another negative connotation with [Khanmigo] would be that people might not go to get a peer tutor anymore or go to Science Study Center or other important resources where we actually get to interact with a person, which for me is more beneficial. We have these opportunities for help, where there’s actual people that you can talk to and pretty regularly. I hope that this won’t replace those really useful resources that the school provides,” said Bourgeois.
Brian Faulk, Head of the Division of Natural Sciences, explained how Khanmigo could help alter habits of AI usage for academic support. He encouraged the introduction of such tools to more students at Andover.
“My hope is that students can use Khanmigo to more honestly wrestle with their homework and seek help when other resources (such as their teacher or peer tutors) are unavailable… This platform asks students to accept that this system works more like conventional peer tutoring and that they will not be directly given the answer. I hope that students will see this as a supportive resource and one that functions differently than other tools they may use. It is about increasing access to tools that help students learn,” wrote Faulk in an email to The Phillipian.
