I hadn’t spoken to 22nd-Century Skills guru Paul Banksley for a few months. But with AI looming so large in the future of education, I wanted to get the celebrated innovator’s take on where things are headed as the new school year dawns. The former vacuum salesman and founder of Tomorrows Are for Tomorrow had been in Paris to collect another prestigious award and was on his way to Qatar, but he made a few minutes to chat with me from his hotel.

“So, AI?” he said. “Yep, it’s top of mind. It changes everything. In fact, we’re launching our ‘Everything Has Changed’ incubator. We’re going to catalyze next-generation teaching to deliver 30x learning.”

“30x?” I asked.

“Students are going to learn 30 times faster,” he explained. “You’ve seen the TV show Young Sheldon, about that rocket scientist guy who was in 9th grade when he was nine? Well, that’s nothing. With 30x learning, our students will be finishing a high school curriculum by the end of 2nd grade.”

I had to admit that was remarkable but felt obliged to ask if he was concerned someone else might come along with 31x learning.

“What are you talking about?!” he said. “31x learning? Nobody’s coming up with 31x learning. Who learns 31 times faster? You don’t have time to absorb the material! That’s crazy.”

“Okay,” I said. “So, what’s the key to making 30x learning work?”

“It’s the magic of students having a screen to themselves without adults or classmates to slow them down,” he explained. “We’ve got game-based algorithms that’ll teach six weeks of content in a day. That’ll give students time to become neuroscientists, jazz musicians, cybercurrency entrepreneurs, Olympic athletes, and tech moguls.”

“Can this really work?” I asked. “It seems too good to be true.”

“Well, it’s not just the AI,” he allowed. “We’ve also developed some proprietary insights. A big one is that we’ve discovered that motivation matters. People are trapped in this purist notion that kids should be self-motivated. But most aren’t. We’ll figure out what motivates each kid and use it to get them to put in the work. That’s a big part of our secret sauce.”

“You know I respect your work, but is motivation really a secret ingredient?” I wondered aloud. “I’ve known a lot of educators who’ve thought it was important to motivate students. What makes your approach uniquely effective?”

Banksley struck a grave tone. “It’s about the AI. The chatbot is the motivator! Students earn XP, maintain streaks, level up. If they start to lag, they can be threatened with losing points they’d worked so hard to earn. These kinds of incentives just weren’t possible before the advent of AI.”

I said, “Umm, well—”

“Some tools are even more remarkable,” he continued. “For instance, I’m currently mad about teachtales.com. It’s an AI-powered story-building platform that turns every child into the author of their own Lexile-appropriate custom adventures. It cultivates a love of reading and gives every student a shot at becoming a best-selling author.”

“So, you think it’s okay for young learners to use AI for writing?” I clarified.

Banksley paused. “Are you really asking me this? Of course young learners should use AI to write! Paper is a then thing. Devices are a now thing. And AI is a future thing. Being future-forward means embracing the future.”

“Should we worry about whether students are too reliant on AI?” I asked.

He sighed. “Look, AI has made old-fashioned writing obsolete. Writing used to be elitist. Only the privileged could learn to write well. That’s changed in the blink of an eye. AI lets everyone write well. I just have to say, ‘Claude, write me a book like one of those famous dead Russian guys,’ and there we go. This is the democratization of written communication. It’s time to celebrate the dawn of a new cognitive era. Let’s bury the dead past. The moment calls for an emphasis on new skills.”

“So, which skills should educators focus on?” I asked. “And what should they be concerned about?”

“They need to lean into their humanity and distinctly human-centric skills like communication, collaboration, and engagement. And understanding. And leadership. And how to shop with AI. And vibe coding. And crafting a good prompt.”

“You know,” I said, “I’ve got one question about all that. I mean, I’ve seen cats and dogs communicate and ants collaborate. But I’ve never seen an animal learn the periodic table, do algebra, or read a novel. How come those things don’t rate as distinctly human?”

Banksley seemed not to hear me. Perhaps there’d been some cell interference. In any event, he forged ahead as if I hadn’t spoken. “You asked what educators should be concerned about . . .” He paused. “Well, they should be concerned about whether they’re falling behind. About whether their students know how to manage a robust squad of AI agents or are learning etiquette for AI-enabled wearables.”

“Got it,” I said, furiously taking notes. “Okay, let’s change gears just a bit. At the end of 2025, RAND reported that over 60 percent of students said they were using AI for homework help. Meanwhile, two out of three students said using AI for schoolwork hurts their critical thinking. Do figures like that give you pause?”

“Not at all. Education is about much more than just homework and thinking,” he said.

“Does AI change the teacher’s job, too?” I asked.

“Of course,” he said. “Take lesson planning. Or IEPs for special education. AI can now do the lesson planning or write the IEP. Ta-da! Teachers don’t need to do it.”

“That does seem like a big time-saver,” I agreed. “But I suppose a skeptic might ask if it’s a problem that a teacher will be using an IEP they didn’t write. Will they know what’s in it?”

“Between you and me, most of this teacher work is a waste of time,” he said. “No one really reads lesson plans and IEPs.”

“Geez,” I said. “If that’s the case, shouldn’t we just slash the paperwork rather than ask AI to produce stacks of useless documents?”

He tried again. “Look, you’re missing the big picture. Take an old-fashioned math class where students are disengaged. AI can craft a lesson plan where students make dance-themed TikTok videos and upload them to public accounts, taking advantage of cutting-edge image generators and editing. Students can compare videos to see which one gets the most likes. That’s motivating and future-forward. See?”

“I’m not sure I get how that helps them learn math,” I admitted.

“Well, some of us get AI and some of us don’t,” he said.

“Any final words for parents and educators when it comes to AI?” I asked.

There was a thoughtful pause. “Just two,” he said: “Think bigly.”

Frederick Hess is an executive editor of Education Next and the author of the blog “Old School with Rick Hess.”