Can artificial intelligence revolutionize education? SF summit focuses on future of AI in learning

It's been touted as a cure for everything from cancer, to gridlock. But can artificial intelligence revolutionize education?

That was a key question as some of the biggest names in tech, politics and education gathered for a summit in San Francisco.

National figures included New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, educator Geoffrey Canada, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who joked about a lack of funding in education in the U.S. compared to other western economies.

"Other countries actually look at facts and evidence when they make policy. The facts and evidence are really on our side about why investing in kids makes so much economic sense and everything else,” said Clinton.

But at the conference Monday, which is sponsored by a group called Common Sense Media, an appearance by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was the main event.

In his eyes, AI is simply the future for almost everything -- including education.

"AI will be a new way to use the internet. AI will be a new way to work more productively. AI will be a new way to discover science,” said Altman. “A new way to get better healthcare. It really is like a deeply enabling technology."

He announced OpenAI will be working with Common Sense Media to potentially rate new AI platforms marketed to kids and teens.

The goal is to keep young learners safe.

Altman's presentation seemed to raise plenty of questions and concerns among some attendees and even some of the panelists.

Deep fakes, and other AI-manipulated media are already a big concern, especially in an election year. But he notes there are also other sophisticated scams abusing AI technology. 

"Personalized persuasion,” said Altman. “The capability of models to not target the entire internet or a large group but to one person. That's like a new thing that just wasn't possible at a large scale."

Sal Khan with the Khan Academy said that's one reason why it's necessary to begin using AI in teaching now.

His academy is using AI as a core part of its teaching curriculum.

"The best protection is for people to understand what can be faked now. What can happen, and what you can do to test that, and not to immediately react for some urgent relative asking you for money," said Khan.

He added that the benefits of AI for educators include its ability to help with time consuming tasks like grading papers, or writing lesson plans.

As AI technology grows more sophisticated, some innovators at this event are hoping to stay ahead of the curve.