AI-powered textbooks fail to make the grade in South Korea
South Korea’s experiment with AI-powered textbooks collapsed within months of launch after widespread technical failures and complaints from students and teachers.
The government had promoted the digital textbooks as a way to personalise learning, ease teacher workloads, and modernise classrooms, but lessons were disrupted by software glitches, factual errors, and poor usability. Many students struggled to stay focused on screens, while teachers reported heavier workloads instead of relief.
The project, introduced nationwide in March 2025 under former president Yoon Suk Yeol, cost over 1.2 trillion won (£650 million) in public funding, with publishers investing another 800 billion won. Lawsuits from teachers’ unions and parents’ groups followed soon after, citing data privacy risks, increased screen exposure, and a lack of consultation.
Facing growing backlash, the government downgraded the textbooks from mandatory to optional use within four months. After Yoon’s impeachment and removal from office, his successor revoked their official status entirely, turning them into supplementary materials. Adoption quickly fell from 37 percent of schools to under 20 percent.
Lawmakers accused the education ministry of rushing development without testing or safeguards, as AI textbooks were approved in a fraction of the time normally required for print editions.
Publication: Rest of World
Writer: Junhyup Kwon