Speaker

Joe Liemandt, Founder of Trilogy Software and ESW Capital

Context: Rob Hutter and Joe Liemandt discussed the emergence of AI in the educational sector in an exciting fireside chat hosted by Arena Hall. Joe Joemandt’s extensive career in AI since the 80s has given the Founder of Trilogy Software and ESW Capital a thorough insight into the existing and potential applications of AI technology in the educational sector.

Bio: In 1996, Joe Liemandt became the youngest self-made person on the Forbes 400. As the founder of Trilogy Software and ESW Capital, Liemandt has been on the forefront of technological investment and innovation - acquiring over 100 software companies implementing a strategy of transitioning their workforces to build flourishing businesses.

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Summary

Moore’s Law posits an observation that technological expansion is occurring increasingly more rapidly with each passing year.

With such a fast evolution of technology, education cannot be left behind to fend for itself - it must be at the forefront of innovative change. Joe Liemandt is determined to bring about such innovation. Expounding upon his ideas for integrated AI in education, the renowned tech entrepreneur sheds light on a burgeoning sector of innovation in the realm of education.

Big Ideas:

• When Trilogy moved operations to Austin from Palo Alto, there were hardly any software engineers. Trilogy needed to recruit over 2,000 Ivy League engineers to get the company off the ground. This need for engineers is exemplary of a wider trend within education. Namely; that education is needing a fix to promote innovation in emerging technology spaces. Joe Liemandt and his team are determined to bring about such innovation.
• In the 90s, Liemandt’s Trilogy was out recruiting Gates’ Microsoft for the brightest minds in the technology industry. Gates was so fascinated by Trilogy’s success that he flew out to Austin to personally meet with Liemandt. According to Liemandt, the key differentiator between Trilogy and all other companies in recruiting was simple: give students incredibly difficult challenges, and because of their limitless potential, these same students will go on to shine brightly in the sector. Students were being entrusted with immense responsibility that was the impetus for innovation.
• Alpha is a reevaluation of the education system. Imagine if you told students that they only needed to spend two hours a day to crush academics? The amount of time to focus on what students love to do skyrockets. This solution solves one of the largest problems facing education: motivation. 
• Kevin Systrom was mentored by Stanford business theorist BJ Fogg. Fogg identified two components that create a highly engaging platform: motivation and ease of use. These two factors were vital to the success of Instagram and continue to be the driving catalyst for further technological innovation in the world of AI.
• At Alpha, parents were told that their students would be taught entirely by an AI tutor app. The remarkable findings after a year of this experiment is that students learned 2.2 times as much as they would at standard school in just two hours a day. Two thirds of Alpha students learned three times as much as standard students, and the top 20% of students at Alpha learned five times as much. This experiment of AI learning has now been conducted in regions all over the world with equivalent success. Obviously, AI technology is onto something.
• With the emergence of AI learning technology in education comes cost. Currently, costs for scaling AI is high with each student costing approximately $10,000. However, projections for the end of 2024 will see this cost cut by half, and in three to four years costs are projected to drop under $1,000 per student.
• AI in education is being used in three main ways, with the first being utilized in the two hour academic window of the Alpha model. Here, AI is being used for a more personalized and deeper understanding of the course material. The second instance of AI usage is within the domain of life skills. The goal is to have a student realize that AI is a massive unlock to training oneself in the rigors of a particular discipline. A quick example of this aspect of AI in real life is when students at Alpha wanted a late start of school after Halloween. The students put their proposal into ChatGPT and asked it to score out of five the assessment of the critical thinking that went into the proposal. This is just a small example of AI’s powerful potential to hone in life skills. The third way that AI is being used is that it gives students superpowers. To properly teach students how to interact and correctly use AI gives them a massive advantage in the technologically expanding world.
• Olympians who have a 1500 SAT have a 75% chance of getting into the Ivy League. At Alpha, AI is being used to create projects that achieve an Olympic level of accomplishment. Over the course of a four year high school career, AI is being utilized to teach students how to have an Olympic level project of ambition and impact.