Our story started in 2020 with a question: What is the best way to create equitable and engaging learning experiences for all students? Our answer came when we saw teachers across the nation tackling escalating workloads and class sizes. We knew turning AI from intelligent tools to social, collaborative partners in the classroom would help teachers get back to doing what they do best – inspiring and teaching students.

We envisioned AI partners working with teachers to catch the teachable and eureka moments that excite students and spark ideas. Our AI would help provide insightful nuggets from students’ conversations to teachers and guide authentic whole-class and group discussions.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recognized the awesome potential of our vision to transform education and honored us with an award to became one of seven flagship AI Institutes established by the NSF in August 2020.

Collaborating with students and teachers of diverse backgrounds is the only way to turn this vision into reality. Two school districts, Denver Public Schools and St. Vrain Valley Schools, joined our team to help train our AI on diverse speech patterns, facial expressions, eye movements and gestures from real-world classrooms.