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Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education
From the founder of Khan Academy, the first book written for general audiences on the AI revolution in education, its implications for parenting, and how we can best harness its power for good.
Whether we like it or not, the AI revolution is coming to education. In Brave New Words , Salman Khan, the visionary behind Khan Academy, explores how artificial intelligence and GPT technology will transform learning, offering a roadmap for teachers, parents, and students to navigate this exciting (and sometimes intimidating) new world.
An insider in the world of education technology, Khan explains the ins and outs of these cutting-edge tools and how they will revolutionize the way we learn and teach. Rather than approaching the sea of change brought on by ChatGPT with white-knuckled fear, Khan wants parents and teachers to embrace AI and adapt to it (while acknowledging its imperfections and limitations), so that every student can complement the work they're already doing in profoundly new and creative ways, to personalize learning, adapt assessments, and support success in the classroom.
But Brave New Words is not just about technology—it's about what this technology means for our society, and the practical implications for administrators, guidance counselors, and hiring managers who can harness the power of AI in education and the workplace. Khan also delves into the ethical and social implications of AI and GPT, offering thoughtful insights into how we can use these tools to build a more accessible education system for students around the world.
Whether we like it or not, the AI revolution is coming to education. In Brave New Words , Salman Khan, the visionary behind Khan Academy, explores how artificial intelligence and GPT technology will transform learning, offering a roadmap for teachers, parents, and students to navigate this exciting (and sometimes intimidating) new world.
An insider in the world of education technology, Khan explains the ins and outs of these cutting-edge tools and how they will revolutionize the way we learn and teach. Rather than approaching the sea of change brought on by ChatGPT with white-knuckled fear, Khan wants parents and teachers to embrace AI and adapt to it (while acknowledging its imperfections and limitations), so that every student can complement the work they're already doing in profoundly new and creative ways, to personalize learning, adapt assessments, and support success in the classroom.
But Brave New Words is not just about technology—it's about what this technology means for our society, and the practical implications for administrators, guidance counselors, and hiring managers who can harness the power of AI in education and the workplace. Khan also delves into the ethical and social implications of AI and GPT, offering thoughtful insights into how we can use these tools to build a more accessible education system for students around the world.
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Salman Khan
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 495 reviews
May 20, 2024
I adore Khan Academy, and I understand why Sal is so excited about the possibilities for AI in education, but this entire book is basically just a really long ad for Khanmigo. And the biggest barrier to Khanmigo being useful that I can see is that, for it to work, kids have to engage in elaborate discussions with it. Will they? Probably not. As it stands now, Khanmigo isn't going to be able to compete with the dopamine-infused allure of social media.
I would have rated the book much higher if he'd addressed that, and posted transcripts of actual kids (instead of just himself) engaging with Khanmigo.
I would have rated the book much higher if he'd addressed that, and posted transcripts of actual kids (instead of just himself) engaging with Khanmigo.
January 23, 2024
Much of the material written about the impact of artificial intelligence on higher education has been filled with overly pessimistic doom and gloom. Brave New Words presents a breath of air in that sense, clearly explaining how the Khan Academy non-profit has partnered with OpenAI in order to offer the best possible integration of AI and education. How they're approaching it is definitely admirable and I'm happy to see someone is taking a positive approach to this.
If all you've seen in the headlines are negatives about AI and education, this book will provide a very welcome alternative view. In short, I actually think every educator should read this book, considering the educational role that Khan Academy plays now and will likely continue to play in the future as it adopts AI.
Nonetheless, this book is so optimistic about how widespread AI use can be and the number of problems it will tackle, that this actually raised new concerns for me. These go far beyond the typical concerns about plagiarism and replacing teachers that have been written about most frequently. I'll give a few examples.
1. Khan sees this technology being used not just in the classroom, but as a way to help parents monitor their children's progress, offer therapy, and even facilitate conversation among families. These are helpful, it's argued, because of the anxiety of speaking in class, or the difficulty of getting our kids to tell us about their day. The book only briefly notes the negative of more screen time here, but there has already been serious research that raises concerns far beyond that. Sherry Turkle, for example, has written in the book Alone Together about how when we converse with machines precisely because it is easier, we lose the important skills that are needed to communicate face-to-face with others. If we can't converse with our own kids without AI intervention, we have lost something significant, not gained something. Meta (and other researchers) are already working on designing glasses that can listen to your conversation and then tell you how to respond to those with whom you're speaking.
2. This book also sets up some straw men when discussing why people don't like standardized testing. The main concern isn't about the actual standardization, it's the way it has led to explicitly teaching to the test, and how student promotion to the next grade level, teacher evaluations (and their associated employment), and school district funding have all been linked to the outcomes of these tests. Despite that oversight, Khan does suggest some approaches to adopting AI that would mitigate at least some of these challenges.
3. The vision presented for the future of the job application and hiring process is rosier than I could possibly ever imagine, and doesn't note the ways AI has already made this process dystopian in the present. Already, we have big data and AI finding absurd correlations, such as the fact that people who submit applications using a web browser installed by default tend to leave a job more quickly than those who install a different browser. We also have AI programs that analyze applicants' social media presence and the content of that to create reports about their predicted personality and leadership skills. This goes beyond the advice to avoid posting pictures of yourself drinking or even avoiding being on social media (that was so 2010s). Instead, it means that to have a better chance in being hired, you must have a social media presence, you must positively interact with a network of others in a publicly visible way, and your writing patterns must match some personality profile a black-boxed AI has determined will mean you're a team player (this review probably doesn't match that). But even these already existing uses of AI are not addressed.
4. Near the end, Khan argues the invention of generative AI means we're either heading to a Star Trek like utopia or a populist hell. I've been re-reading Fahrenheit 451 with my kids. I'll juxtapose two quotes.
"It [generative AI] could reformulate the news article they are reading closer to their grade level, potentially leaving out age-inappropriate details." -- Brave New Words, Salman Khan
"Classics cut to fifteen-minute radio shows, then cut again to fill a two-minute book column, winding up at last as a ten- or twelve-line dictionary resume... Many were those whose sole knowledge of Hamlet... was a one-page digest." - Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
To conclude, I do think this is a book everyone should read. I'm in awe of Khan's optimism, and it's worth hearing how he describes his vision. At the same time, it worries me that someone who spends so much time thinking about this has either skipped over or chosen not to discuss some of the serious challenges (not fluffy think pieces) that are already present in our world due to AI.
If all you've seen in the headlines are negatives about AI and education, this book will provide a very welcome alternative view. In short, I actually think every educator should read this book, considering the educational role that Khan Academy plays now and will likely continue to play in the future as it adopts AI.
Nonetheless, this book is so optimistic about how widespread AI use can be and the number of problems it will tackle, that this actually raised new concerns for me. These go far beyond the typical concerns about plagiarism and replacing teachers that have been written about most frequently. I'll give a few examples.
1. Khan sees this technology being used not just in the classroom, but as a way to help parents monitor their children's progress, offer therapy, and even facilitate conversation among families. These are helpful, it's argued, because of the anxiety of speaking in class, or the difficulty of getting our kids to tell us about their day. The book only briefly notes the negative of more screen time here, but there has already been serious research that raises concerns far beyond that. Sherry Turkle, for example, has written in the book Alone Together about how when we converse with machines precisely because it is easier, we lose the important skills that are needed to communicate face-to-face with others. If we can't converse with our own kids without AI intervention, we have lost something significant, not gained something. Meta (and other researchers) are already working on designing glasses that can listen to your conversation and then tell you how to respond to those with whom you're speaking.
2. This book also sets up some straw men when discussing why people don't like standardized testing. The main concern isn't about the actual standardization, it's the way it has led to explicitly teaching to the test, and how student promotion to the next grade level, teacher evaluations (and their associated employment), and school district funding have all been linked to the outcomes of these tests. Despite that oversight, Khan does suggest some approaches to adopting AI that would mitigate at least some of these challenges.
3. The vision presented for the future of the job application and hiring process is rosier than I could possibly ever imagine, and doesn't note the ways AI has already made this process dystopian in the present. Already, we have big data and AI finding absurd correlations, such as the fact that people who submit applications using a web browser installed by default tend to leave a job more quickly than those who install a different browser. We also have AI programs that analyze applicants' social media presence and the content of that to create reports about their predicted personality and leadership skills. This goes beyond the advice to avoid posting pictures of yourself drinking or even avoiding being on social media (that was so 2010s). Instead, it means that to have a better chance in being hired, you must have a social media presence, you must positively interact with a network of others in a publicly visible way, and your writing patterns must match some personality profile a black-boxed AI has determined will mean you're a team player (this review probably doesn't match that). But even these already existing uses of AI are not addressed.
4. Near the end, Khan argues the invention of generative AI means we're either heading to a Star Trek like utopia or a populist hell. I've been re-reading Fahrenheit 451 with my kids. I'll juxtapose two quotes.
"It [generative AI] could reformulate the news article they are reading closer to their grade level, potentially leaving out age-inappropriate details." -- Brave New Words, Salman Khan
"Classics cut to fifteen-minute radio shows, then cut again to fill a two-minute book column, winding up at last as a ten- or twelve-line dictionary resume... Many were those whose sole knowledge of Hamlet... was a one-page digest." - Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
To conclude, I do think this is a book everyone should read. I'm in awe of Khan's optimism, and it's worth hearing how he describes his vision. At the same time, it worries me that someone who spends so much time thinking about this has either skipped over or chosen not to discuss some of the serious challenges (not fluffy think pieces) that are already present in our world due to AI.
June 7, 2024
A few good ideas, but basically an ad for Khan Academy.
May 26, 2024
This book is the epitome of why when it comes to learning about AI and quickly moving topics, articles are infinitely more relevant and insightful than books that take over a year to get published.
As a big fan of Khan Academy and the edtech space, I really wanted to like this. Unfortunately, the book employs a consistently humdrum formula: a topic, some prompts Sal finds mind-blowing in 2022 (but isn't to us, reading it in the gpt-4o era), some scary aspects, why those aspects are overblown, and very now-obvious future use cases of AI.
As a big fan of Khan Academy and the edtech space, I really wanted to like this. Unfortunately, the book employs a consistently humdrum formula: a topic, some prompts Sal finds mind-blowing in 2022 (but isn't to us, reading it in the gpt-4o era), some scary aspects, why those aspects are overblown, and very now-obvious future use cases of AI.
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April 10, 2025Buku yang bikin reading slump, bahkan setelah dibedah di BBB tapi aku baru selesai beberapa minggu kemudian 😅
Jelek? Nggak. Buku ini penting karena ditulis dari PoV stakeholder pendidikan yang SANGAT OPTIMIS soal penggunaan AI dalam konteks pendidikan. Kenapa? Karena dia punya bisnis di bidang ini jadi pastinya 'jualan' banget. Walau menyebalkan tapi untuk imagine the best possibilities with AI in the future, ya Salman Khan ini valid banget PoV-nya.
Namun, saat baca, rasanya jiwaku mau memberontak 😂 Ada banyak argumen yang pengin kuutarakan ke beliau yang sangat yakin bahwa menguasai AI adalah kunci sukses. Yes, okay, but what is your definition of success? Individual success? Banyak banget poin di buku ini yang sebetulnya perlu dikiritisi dari perspektif keberlanjutan karena akan memperlebar ketimpangan.
Tentu ada poin-poin yang menarik dan aku setuju, misalnya soal bagaimana generative AI bisa menjadi partner guru dalam mengajar, lalu bisa jadi personal tutor buat murid. Jadi pengajaran nggak hanya satu arah untuk lebih banyak anak yang nggak bisa punya private tutor. (But again, pertanyaan yang tidak terjawab, akan seberapa terdemokratisasi akses ini?)
Lalu ada poin soal transparansi dan bias dalam melamar kerja. Menurut buku ini, justru kalau screening lamaran kerja pakai AI justru malah less biased dibanding HR recruiter. Menarik.
Recommended tapi kok. Tulisannya dibagi jadi tulisan pendek-pendek. Cuma ya itu, keep in mind bahwa penulisnya memang pro gen AI banget. Bagus buat pemantik berpikir kritis dan latihan berpikir komprehensif soal isu ✨️pendidikan✨️.
Jelek? Nggak. Buku ini penting karena ditulis dari PoV stakeholder pendidikan yang SANGAT OPTIMIS soal penggunaan AI dalam konteks pendidikan. Kenapa? Karena dia punya bisnis di bidang ini jadi pastinya 'jualan' banget. Walau menyebalkan tapi untuk imagine the best possibilities with AI in the future, ya Salman Khan ini valid banget PoV-nya.
Namun, saat baca, rasanya jiwaku mau memberontak 😂 Ada banyak argumen yang pengin kuutarakan ke beliau yang sangat yakin bahwa menguasai AI adalah kunci sukses. Yes, okay, but what is your definition of success? Individual success? Banyak banget poin di buku ini yang sebetulnya perlu dikiritisi dari perspektif keberlanjutan karena akan memperlebar ketimpangan.
Tentu ada poin-poin yang menarik dan aku setuju, misalnya soal bagaimana generative AI bisa menjadi partner guru dalam mengajar, lalu bisa jadi personal tutor buat murid. Jadi pengajaran nggak hanya satu arah untuk lebih banyak anak yang nggak bisa punya private tutor. (But again, pertanyaan yang tidak terjawab, akan seberapa terdemokratisasi akses ini?)
Lalu ada poin soal transparansi dan bias dalam melamar kerja. Menurut buku ini, justru kalau screening lamaran kerja pakai AI justru malah less biased dibanding HR recruiter. Menarik.
Recommended tapi kok. Tulisannya dibagi jadi tulisan pendek-pendek. Cuma ya itu, keep in mind bahwa penulisnya memang pro gen AI banget. Bagus buat pemantik berpikir kritis dan latihan berpikir komprehensif soal isu ✨️pendidikan✨️.
October 11, 2024
“Hey ChatGPT, can you write me a book of around 300 pages that could essentially be a pamphlet of unbridled optimism around the concept of AI and how it’s inevitable so we should all just get on board? If you come across any ethically murky or possibly negative areas to think about, acknowledge them really briefly and then move on without any in depth analysis of anyone’s concerns. Oh, and please please be sure to include the origin story for Khan Academy at least 3 times just so people remember how benevolent I really am.”
May 31, 2024
Li dois livros seguidos sobre a febre da IA Generativa — o primeiro “Creativity Code” (2019), escrito por Marcus du Sautoy como resposta ao impacto do GPT-1, e “Brave New Words” (2024), escrito por Sal Khan, o guru que criou a Khan Academy, como resposta ao impacto do GPT-4 — e confesso ter ficado boquiaberto, não com os feitos do GPT, mas com o deslumbramento dos autores, principalmente no segundo caso, com o livro a funcionar como uma declaração de fé na IA Generativa, suportada diretamente pela Open AI e Bill Gates. Se acalentava dúvidas quanto ao efetivo impacto da IA Generativa fora do domínio criativo, o fervor apresentado por estes livros tornou bastante claro para mim que o rei vai nu.
EN: https://medium.com/@nzagalo/ia-genera...
PT: https://narrativax.blogspot.com/2024/...
EN: https://medium.com/@nzagalo/ia-genera...
PT: https://narrativax.blogspot.com/2024/...
June 14, 2024
While I broadly agree with Kahn’s points and positivity around the potential for AI to enhance education, I agree with the reviews saying this book is basically just promo for his company’s new AI tutor. I suppose it could be helpful to generate ideas for using AI in the classroom as an educator, but none of the examples were particularly novel to me.
June 21, 2024
Pretty much a long form advertisement for Khan Academy—which I’m cool with. Sal Khan is easily a top 5 answer for the “who would you have dinner with in history?” question. Forget the tech billionaires of the world. Khan is where it’s at.
And donate to Khan Academy!
And donate to Khan Academy!
July 25, 2025
I was asked to read this book as part of professional development at my school. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t the first book I wanted to pick up since I didn’t have much interest in the subject. I was pleasantly surprised, however! I appreciate that Salman Khan recognizes all the “dangers” of AI but encourages us all to focus on the positives and be ambassadors for a better education for our youth. It’s certainly worth the read!
July 30, 2024
Khan’s thesis can be boiled down to: AI offers the potential for a personalized tutor for every student. He has an ambitious (and utopian) ideal of ‘every student having personalized support through their education using AI assistants.
Overall, I liked the book. Despite my criticisms, I would still recommend it to anyone working in/around education who wants to take a journey through of all the different influences and implications of AI on learners with a few whimsical ideations to keep us hopeful.
I admire where Khan is coming from and his ‘tech for good’ mentality that has made Khan Academy such an incredible resource for learners. He identifies through that with enough philanthropic and government investment, AI tools like Khanmigo (his new product, mentioned heavily throughout) could be a completely free resource for students. He outlines (with actual examples using generative AI different use cases for teachers and learners. The chapter on assessment and admissions gives us hope of better, more informative testing experiences for students – without plugging Khanmigo 🤣 and the chapter on work provides balanced perspectives on how jobs will change and tangible recommendations on how workers can adapt to remain relevant: be a centaur. Be a cyborg. Learn how to leverage these tools early, often, and effectively to advance your skills, but not replace them.
HOWEVER, read this with the massive caveat that, at times, the book just feels like a gigantic sales pitch for Khan Academy and Khanmigo. While I am generally an AI optimist, Khan’s takes in this book are simply too positive to take in whole. Other than at the end, where he heeds a warning of the “AI for evil” narrative we could fall into, this book lacks enough concern or critique. He glosses over significant fears and risks, almost to check a box that he’s mentioned them, and forges ahead with all of the potential AI (often his product specifically) has to offer.
Overall, I liked the book. Despite my criticisms, I would still recommend it to anyone working in/around education who wants to take a journey through of all the different influences and implications of AI on learners with a few whimsical ideations to keep us hopeful.
I admire where Khan is coming from and his ‘tech for good’ mentality that has made Khan Academy such an incredible resource for learners. He identifies through that with enough philanthropic and government investment, AI tools like Khanmigo (his new product, mentioned heavily throughout) could be a completely free resource for students. He outlines (with actual examples using generative AI different use cases for teachers and learners. The chapter on assessment and admissions gives us hope of better, more informative testing experiences for students – without plugging Khanmigo 🤣 and the chapter on work provides balanced perspectives on how jobs will change and tangible recommendations on how workers can adapt to remain relevant: be a centaur. Be a cyborg. Learn how to leverage these tools early, often, and effectively to advance your skills, but not replace them.
HOWEVER, read this with the massive caveat that, at times, the book just feels like a gigantic sales pitch for Khan Academy and Khanmigo. While I am generally an AI optimist, Khan’s takes in this book are simply too positive to take in whole. Other than at the end, where he heeds a warning of the “AI for evil” narrative we could fall into, this book lacks enough concern or critique. He glosses over significant fears and risks, almost to check a box that he’s mentioned them, and forges ahead with all of the potential AI (often his product specifically) has to offer.
Read
March 12, 2025We can engage with all of this (and with Khan) in good faith, and there is a lot of use cases for AI for learning. (My one use of chat bots, which I think is wholly Worth it, is to practice writing in Spanish).
Some of this is interesting and probably very generative. Some of this, however, is genuinely the devil.
Some of this is interesting and probably very generative. Some of this, however, is genuinely the devil.
May 24, 2024
The book is about all of the ways generative AI can help us improve education and how it is already doing it with Khanmigo.
I liked it, but let's see how well it ages. These things change quickly and what's true today may not be true in some weeks.
I liked it, but let's see how well it ages. These things change quickly and what's true today may not be true in some weeks.
August 17, 2024
With all due respect to Salman Khan for his achievements in education and EdTech, this is book is less about what it promises in the title, and more about the history and capabilities of Khanmigo, an AI assistant by Khan Academy.
March 5, 2025
Full review incoming but they should not be allowed to publish a 222pg advertisement and call it a book. Shame on everyone who worked on this.
July 23, 2025
Where to start. It's clear that Khan and I have some different approaches to education. I really admire what he's done with Khan Academy, especially how it is built around providing access for those who otherwise would not have it. Also, I wouldn't so much say that this book reads like an ad for Khanmigo (though I can see why some would say that), but that he's trying to provide tangible examples, grounded in experience, for what can and has been done.
However, Khan is more a techguy/businessman than he is an educator, and it shows. There are aspects of this where it becomes clear he has not been a teacher in a classroom. Some of the issues he correctly identifies about current education are nevertheless generalized and flattened. Many of the issues and concerns around AI that he acknowledges are far too quickly dismissed. He also doesn't differentiate between generative AI (which is mostly what he's advocating for with the Khanmigo AI tutor) and predictive AI/algorithms, which he at times veers of into.
He sort of initially lost me in his intro. He brings up educational AI helpers in science fiction stories as examples of what is now becoming reality. The problem is that in a single paragraph, he references Neal Stephenson (who never in his life explored a one-sidedly good technology the way Khan portrays it), Orson Scott Card (where he mis-attributes the computer program Jane to the wrong book in the series), and an Isaac Asimov short story, that is literally about the opposite of what Khan is saying (it's called 'The Fun They Had' and is about a student stuck learning in front of a computer who hears about how all kids got to learn together in a school and is off daydreaming about the fun they must have had). All that in the same paragraph feels like flimsy, shoddy, and inaccurate representation. Almost like something ChatGPT would have cooked up--sounds plausible if you don't know better (not saying that's what Khan did, but the pattern is the same).
I also felt this book was not organized well. He certainly makes some good points and is on the right track in some ways (for example, I like his emphasis of process over final product when it comes to learning). But this whole text is not streamlined, it jumps around, repeats itself, and doesn't have a clear through-line in certain sections. It's almost as though this was written based on an outline provided by ChatGPT (again, not saying that's what Khan did). To date, ChatGPT cannot create a line of reasoning in how it generates the next plausible words/thoughts/phrases. Similarly, this book lacks the cohesion between the overall vision/argument and the individual pieces into a single, streamlined purpose--exactly what AI writing is currently bad at. So either Khan relied just a bit too much on AI to help him write this, or it's a skill he doesn't have and doesn't know he's missing. Which is exactly one of my major concerns about AI in education--what happens when students/teachers use AI (even in good, robust ways that facilitate a lot of learning) but at the cost of depth, critical analysis, expertise, nuance, etc. And they won't even know that's what they're missing. Khan the businessman is focused on 'scaling', 'streamlining', and 'progress' and I fear that's not actually how we fix education, regardless of his insistence that AI tutors will work 'with' students/teachers/families.
As noble as I find his intentions, I think his approach is overall naive and a bit too bought into the AI hype while not taking the depth of certain concerns seriously. I admire what Khan is attempting and I really hope he continues to be able to provide opportunities to those who otherwise would not have it.
However, Khan is more a techguy/businessman than he is an educator, and it shows. There are aspects of this where it becomes clear he has not been a teacher in a classroom. Some of the issues he correctly identifies about current education are nevertheless generalized and flattened. Many of the issues and concerns around AI that he acknowledges are far too quickly dismissed. He also doesn't differentiate between generative AI (which is mostly what he's advocating for with the Khanmigo AI tutor) and predictive AI/algorithms, which he at times veers of into.
He sort of initially lost me in his intro. He brings up educational AI helpers in science fiction stories as examples of what is now becoming reality. The problem is that in a single paragraph, he references Neal Stephenson (who never in his life explored a one-sidedly good technology the way Khan portrays it), Orson Scott Card (where he mis-attributes the computer program Jane to the wrong book in the series), and an Isaac Asimov short story, that is literally about the opposite of what Khan is saying (it's called 'The Fun They Had' and is about a student stuck learning in front of a computer who hears about how all kids got to learn together in a school and is off daydreaming about the fun they must have had). All that in the same paragraph feels like flimsy, shoddy, and inaccurate representation. Almost like something ChatGPT would have cooked up--sounds plausible if you don't know better (not saying that's what Khan did, but the pattern is the same).
I also felt this book was not organized well. He certainly makes some good points and is on the right track in some ways (for example, I like his emphasis of process over final product when it comes to learning). But this whole text is not streamlined, it jumps around, repeats itself, and doesn't have a clear through-line in certain sections. It's almost as though this was written based on an outline provided by ChatGPT (again, not saying that's what Khan did). To date, ChatGPT cannot create a line of reasoning in how it generates the next plausible words/thoughts/phrases. Similarly, this book lacks the cohesion between the overall vision/argument and the individual pieces into a single, streamlined purpose--exactly what AI writing is currently bad at. So either Khan relied just a bit too much on AI to help him write this, or it's a skill he doesn't have and doesn't know he's missing. Which is exactly one of my major concerns about AI in education--what happens when students/teachers use AI (even in good, robust ways that facilitate a lot of learning) but at the cost of depth, critical analysis, expertise, nuance, etc. And they won't even know that's what they're missing. Khan the businessman is focused on 'scaling', 'streamlining', and 'progress' and I fear that's not actually how we fix education, regardless of his insistence that AI tutors will work 'with' students/teachers/families.
As noble as I find his intentions, I think his approach is overall naive and a bit too bought into the AI hype while not taking the depth of certain concerns seriously. I admire what Khan is attempting and I really hope he continues to be able to provide opportunities to those who otherwise would not have it.
December 3, 2024
Loved Brave New Words , it was a short, easy read by someone I grew up watching and someone I often relied on. In many ways, Khan Academy was better for me to understand concepts when I couldn't follow the pace of my math and science classes.
I was skeptical at first though, that this book will move me in any way. Salman Khan goes in depth about his partnership with Sam Altman to develop Khanmigo, and how they envision A.I playing a role on education in the future. Education shapes society yes, it advances frontiers and opens individuals to a life of fulfillment and purpose. Khan does a decent job playing devil's advocate, but the first half of the book felt uncritically pro-A.I to me. All very important things, but I wanted to know what the dangers were, precisely how generative A.I can disrupt industries, especially my own. But that's the thing, it's not about pro or anti A.I; I recognize it even stronger that A.I is here to stay and the winners will most likely be those that leverage the technology to advance their own productivity and goals. A.I is not a replacement (despite what some would want us to believe) but it is a tool that will provide a competitive edge in life and provide value in the workplace. SKILL = VALUE. Workplace plus the A.I, working together. This does not mean we give up on our pursuit of education. We must not lose a sense of ourself though in that pursuit of our goals, we must stay grounded to what we value and what moves us, deep in our core.
All in all, I have an optimistic outlook on the future. Obviously, Khan stands to benefit from winning people over on AI, and I disagreed with him on some points, especially when he talked about using AI for screenwriting, but I'm glad to have read this, and I believe there were many lessons I could apply to my own life pursuits and outlook. I want to train my thinking to expand beyond my current scale, and look at the world more comprehensively and hollistically. Even though my current job seemingly does not have much to do with A.I, I'd like to embody
I aim to educate myself on this field even further.
I was skeptical at first though, that this book will move me in any way. Salman Khan goes in depth about his partnership with Sam Altman to develop Khanmigo, and how they envision A.I playing a role on education in the future. Education shapes society yes, it advances frontiers and opens individuals to a life of fulfillment and purpose. Khan does a decent job playing devil's advocate, but the first half of the book felt uncritically pro-A.I to me. All very important things, but I wanted to know what the dangers were, precisely how generative A.I can disrupt industries, especially my own. But that's the thing, it's not about pro or anti A.I; I recognize it even stronger that A.I is here to stay and the winners will most likely be those that leverage the technology to advance their own productivity and goals. A.I is not a replacement (despite what some would want us to believe) but it is a tool that will provide a competitive edge in life and provide value in the workplace. SKILL = VALUE. Workplace plus the A.I, working together. This does not mean we give up on our pursuit of education. We must not lose a sense of ourself though in that pursuit of our goals, we must stay grounded to what we value and what moves us, deep in our core.
All in all, I have an optimistic outlook on the future. Obviously, Khan stands to benefit from winning people over on AI, and I disagreed with him on some points, especially when he talked about using AI for screenwriting, but I'm glad to have read this, and I believe there were many lessons I could apply to my own life pursuits and outlook. I want to train my thinking to expand beyond my current scale, and look at the world more comprehensively and hollistically. Even though my current job seemingly does not have much to do with A.I, I'd like to embody
an ability to look at the various parts of your job, and to see any problem that needs solving, to know where you must focus your research and to understand the pieces that you need to put in place in order to solve it
I aim to educate myself on this field even further.
May 30, 2025
What an amazing read! My biggest takeaways are that generative AI makes true learning and mastery more accessible for all — not just the middle-upper class and wealthy people — and that generative AI WILL be used “for evil” by bad folks. Good people refusing to engage with AI, or at the very least becoming literate in using it appropriately, just means that the bad folks will get the upper hand. I do believe we should lean into this technology and figure out how to leverage it for good to expand our potential as humans, and I think Khan argues this point really well. Also, I was not at all turned off by this basically being an advertisement for Khanmigo like several other reviewers mentioned. I use something similar with my students, and as a teacher it is the most effective way of differentiating instruction for hundreds of students with very little resources in place to do so. It makes a literally impossible task more manageable, even if slightly, and that’s a win in my book. Finally, while a clear preference for the benefits of generative AI are ever present in this book, Khan effectively refutes the counter arguments by comparing the “what ifs” with our very real status quo, a great technique. Big fan!
January 15, 2025
More so than any other book I've read about artificial intelligence, this book contains specific, understandable examples of how AI is being used today and where it is going, particularly in the realm of education.
Parts of the book felt like an advertisement for Khan Academy's own AI add-on, but I was willing to overlook that since that's also where the best examples for the technology were explained using real-life scenarios.
Parts of the book felt like an advertisement for Khan Academy's own AI add-on, but I was willing to overlook that since that's also where the best examples for the technology were explained using real-life scenarios.
February 27, 2025
I feel very conflicted about this book.
On one hand the author is way too optimistic about the use of AI and went in so much shiny detail about what good it could do, without discussing much about the challenges it brings. On the other hand, there are enough pessimistic views on the topic, so perhaps a little bit of optimism amongs those, wouldn‘t hurt.
The topic is very important and i think everyone should read this book, but with a little bit of scepticism. I used to study with khan academy as well, so it was very interesting to hear about how further it got developed. Still something about the way this book was written, the repetition of the topics, made it hard for me to say that i enjoyed this book.
Still, i would say, its worth reading. Almost a must read. As AI is coming either way and we have to be prepared to integrate it to our life and use it to our advantages
On one hand the author is way too optimistic about the use of AI and went in so much shiny detail about what good it could do, without discussing much about the challenges it brings. On the other hand, there are enough pessimistic views on the topic, so perhaps a little bit of optimism amongs those, wouldn‘t hurt.
The topic is very important and i think everyone should read this book, but with a little bit of scepticism. I used to study with khan academy as well, so it was very interesting to hear about how further it got developed. Still something about the way this book was written, the repetition of the topics, made it hard for me to say that i enjoyed this book.
Still, i would say, its worth reading. Almost a must read. As AI is coming either way and we have to be prepared to integrate it to our life and use it to our advantages
July 5, 2025
The author has given me a few things to think about and it is really amazing what he is doing with Khan Academy. However, by the end, the book felt like more of an advertisement for Khan Academy and not broadly applicable to education outside of that world. He barely addressed some of the real challenges that I see for education.
July 27, 2024
"Brave New Words" explores the potential of Large Language Models (LLMs) to provide answers and frameworks, using Khanmigo as a key example. While the book offers practical insights, it may not present new information for those already familiar with the field and the limitations of LLMs, such as hallucinations and the probabilistic nature of their outputs. The frequent references to Khanmigo make the book feel somewhat like an advertisement, and the content could have been effectively conveyed in a one-hour talk and demo rather than an entire book.
The rapid pace of technological advancement means that parts of the book are already somewhat outdated, particularly given the emergence of new AI models with multi-modal capabilities, including voice, video, and image interactions. Despite this, the book presents several valuable ideas for improving pedagogy, tutoring, parent-child and child-teacher dynamics, and addressing mental health issues.
"Brave New Words" maintains a balanced perspective, considering both the advantages and disadvantages of technology. It effectively explains the complexities of measuring LLMs in contexts like hiring and discusses how these systems can be audited. The book is particularly valuable for its examples of how parents, students, and teachers can use technology effectively while preserving the human element. It also prompts readers to question existing biases and consider how AI can become more equitable and auditable, which is a positive takeaway.
The rapid pace of technological advancement means that parts of the book are already somewhat outdated, particularly given the emergence of new AI models with multi-modal capabilities, including voice, video, and image interactions. Despite this, the book presents several valuable ideas for improving pedagogy, tutoring, parent-child and child-teacher dynamics, and addressing mental health issues.
"Brave New Words" maintains a balanced perspective, considering both the advantages and disadvantages of technology. It effectively explains the complexities of measuring LLMs in contexts like hiring and discusses how these systems can be audited. The book is particularly valuable for its examples of how parents, students, and teachers can use technology effectively while preserving the human element. It also prompts readers to question existing biases and consider how AI can become more equitable and auditable, which is a positive takeaway.
October 21, 2025
DNF, AI slop is poisoning the children/adults, tutor AI sounds cool but using AI to tell your kid a bedtime story is pathetic, reads like an advertisement.
June 19, 2024
I like it that Salman Khan is thinking about AI for education, because if I was to trust anyone’s words on this topic it would be his.
The book details some very interesting experiments Khan Academy did with ChatGPT, and by exploring which I have gone from fearful and confused to cautiously optimistic.
The book details some very interesting experiments Khan Academy did with ChatGPT, and by exploring which I have gone from fearful and confused to cautiously optimistic.
February 28, 2025
Based on other reviews, I knew before reading that people felt this was basically an ad for Khan Academy / their AI chatbot Khanmigo, so I adjusted my expectations going in.
That aside, while the book is great at picturing all the good things AI can do for education, I didn't think it did a good job of addressing the downsides. Maybe it wasn't trying to. But for how confidently it argued that "no job is safer in the LLM world than teaching", I would've loved to see some justification for that instead of just asserting it.
Even if Khanmigo has all the guardrails in place so that students can just lean on it instead of having it do all their work, what's stopping a student from opening a new tab and asking ChatGPT once they get annoyed by the guardrails? I know that's maybe not Khan Academy's job to fix, but that's today's reality.
I wanted to read this book to escape from the AI dread I've been feeling lately (lol). It mostly worked I think(?). I agree with its message that at this point it is not about how we can stop AI, but rather how we can make the most out of it in the best way.
I still have strong feelings about AI in art/creativity though, but I could talk about that for a while lol.
That aside, while the book is great at picturing all the good things AI can do for education, I didn't think it did a good job of addressing the downsides. Maybe it wasn't trying to. But for how confidently it argued that "no job is safer in the LLM world than teaching", I would've loved to see some justification for that instead of just asserting it.
Even if Khanmigo has all the guardrails in place so that students can just lean on it instead of having it do all their work, what's stopping a student from opening a new tab and asking ChatGPT once they get annoyed by the guardrails? I know that's maybe not Khan Academy's job to fix, but that's today's reality.
I wanted to read this book to escape from the AI dread I've been feeling lately (lol). It mostly worked I think(?). I agree with its message that at this point it is not about how we can stop AI, but rather how we can make the most out of it in the best way.
I still have strong feelings about AI in art/creativity though, but I could talk about that for a while lol.
September 29, 2025
A long crap ad, that even AI would look at and note its derivativeness. Useful if you want to read an uninformed argument full of holes, Swiss cheese style. Not good. 100% this has been written by AI.
June 19, 2024
It's a good 101-level look at what's happening at the intersection of generative AI and education. I don't give it a 5 because it looks at this intersection solely through the lens of what Khan Academy and OpenAI are building individually and together instead of the industry more broadly. Still, since they are leaders in this space, the book's contents help inform the industry's current state and where it's heading.
Learning more about Salman Khan's background and journey to founding Khan Academy was great. Some education concepts were new to me and will help me be a better educator and learner.
I wish more time were spent on the risks of the technology and possible solutions for solving the challenges ahead.
Learning more about Salman Khan's background and journey to founding Khan Academy was great. Some education concepts were new to me and will help me be a better educator and learner.
I wish more time were spent on the risks of the technology and possible solutions for solving the challenges ahead.
August 27, 2025
Fascinating look at AI and its usefulness in education.
April 25, 2024
I find this book to be insightful and beneficial. I do believe Khan is hyper optimistic but I also do not believe that's necessarily a negative thing as long as readers go into reading it with an open and critical mindset. This book is a great way to enter the discussion of AI and how it can work alongside educators and in the. I would definitely recommend reading it.
March 8, 2024
In Brave New Words, Khan Academy founder Salman Khan presents an optimistic and practical vision for how artificial intelligence, particularly large language models like GPT, will revolutionize education in the coming years. As a respected pioneer in educational technology, Khan draws on his deep expertise to persuasively argue that rather than fearing AI, educators should embrace it as a powerful tool to personalize learning, support teachers, and unlock the potential of every student.
Khan's book serves as an invaluable guide for anyone seeking to understand the implications of AI for learning - from parents and teachers to administrators and policymakers. He accessibly explains the core technologies underpinning this AI revolution and lays out specific ways they can be leveraged to provide each learner with adaptive instruction and feedback tailored to their unique needs, interests and pace.
While acknowledging that AI is still an imperfect technology, Khan compellingly makes the case that its thoughtful adoption in classrooms will enhance, rather than replace, human interaction and creativity. He envisions AI as a tool to empower teachers, inspire students, expand access to quality education, and equip learners with the skills needed to thrive in an increasingly digital future.
Beyond the classroom, Khan explores the broader societal implications of educational AI - from its potential to make hiring more meritocratic to the ethical considerations in its development and deployment. His insights provide a valuable roadmap for how we can proactively shape these technologies as an overwhelming force for good.
At its core, Brave New Words is a profoundly hopeful book, reflecting Khan's lifelong passion to harness technology to improve lives through learning. While educational AI undoubtedly brings new risks and challenges that require ongoing vigilance, Khan convincingly argues the opportunities for expanding educational access and efficacy are simply too great to ignore. For anyone who cares about the future of education, this book is essential reading.
Khan's book serves as an invaluable guide for anyone seeking to understand the implications of AI for learning - from parents and teachers to administrators and policymakers. He accessibly explains the core technologies underpinning this AI revolution and lays out specific ways they can be leveraged to provide each learner with adaptive instruction and feedback tailored to their unique needs, interests and pace.
While acknowledging that AI is still an imperfect technology, Khan compellingly makes the case that its thoughtful adoption in classrooms will enhance, rather than replace, human interaction and creativity. He envisions AI as a tool to empower teachers, inspire students, expand access to quality education, and equip learners with the skills needed to thrive in an increasingly digital future.
Beyond the classroom, Khan explores the broader societal implications of educational AI - from its potential to make hiring more meritocratic to the ethical considerations in its development and deployment. His insights provide a valuable roadmap for how we can proactively shape these technologies as an overwhelming force for good.
At its core, Brave New Words is a profoundly hopeful book, reflecting Khan's lifelong passion to harness technology to improve lives through learning. While educational AI undoubtedly brings new risks and challenges that require ongoing vigilance, Khan convincingly argues the opportunities for expanding educational access and efficacy are simply too great to ignore. For anyone who cares about the future of education, this book is essential reading.
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