Sal Khan says early Khanmigo fell short as Khan Academy rebuilds AI tutor

Khan Academy has moved Khanmigo deeper into student practice after the original version attracted limited use and did not change learning as much as expected.

Khan Academy has integrated Khanmigo more closely with its instructional content and student practice

Khan Academy founder Sal Khan has acknowledged that the first version of Khanmigo did not improve student learning as much as the nonprofit had hoped, while rejecting claims that its AI tutor had failed or been abandoned.

Writing on July 15, Khan said recent comments about Khanmigo had been interpreted as an admission that AI tutoring did not work. He said his remarks referred to the first version launched three years ago, rather than the current Khanmigo experience.

The revised AI tutor is now more closely integrated with Khan Academy’s instructional content and practice problems. It can respond to the specific question a student is completing, prompt learners to explain their reasoning and use information about their recent performance and skill progress.

The changes are aimed at students using Khan Academy during independent practice and teachers managing learning across classrooms. Khan Academy did not provide a separate rollout date for the updated features, but described them as part of the current version of Khanmigo.

Khan framed the update as the result of classroom testing and continued product development: “Khanmigo is very much alive. And its next chapter is stronger because of what we learned.”

First Khanmigo version did not meet learning expectations

Khan separated the evidence supporting Khan Academy’s wider learning platform from the early performance of Khanmigo.

He said Khan Academy continues to have strong efficacy evidence, but acknowledged that adding the first version of the AI tutor did not produce the learning change the organization expected.

“What I said was that the first version of Khanmigo that we launched three years ago did not change student learning as much as many of us hoped it would,” Khan wrote. “That matters. But it is also exactly the kind of thing you learn when you bring a new tool into real classrooms with real students and teachers.”

Kristen Eignor DiCerbo, Chief Learning Officer at Khan Academy, provided further detail in a separate LinkedIn post: “Three years ago, we launched the first version of Khanmigo. Too many students who had it available did not even try it. Since then, we've been iterating by working with real teachers and students in real schools to figure out what actually gets students to engage in conversation that will increase learning.”

Khan Academy responded by working with teachers and students to examine how learners used the AI tool in real classrooms. The organization then moved Khanmigo from a separate support feature into the main practice experience.

The information released did not include the sample size, research design or effect size behind Khan’s assessment of the first version. It also did not provide a Khanmigo-specific comparison group or full evaluation results.

Khan cited math gains among students using Khan Academy in Newark Public Schools, New Jersey, but attributed those results to Khan Academy rather than specifically to Khanmigo.

Khanmigo now prompts students during practice

The current version of Khanmigo can identify the problem a student is working on and discuss it within that context.

Rather than supplying answers, Khan said Khanmigo is intended to keep students working through the problem: “Because Khanmigo is built directly into Khan Academy's practice problems, it can see the problem a student is working on and discuss it with them. Instead of handing over the answer, Khanmigo shows them where they might make mistakes and provides support for arriving at the correct answer.”

Khan described the approach as replacing “cognitive offloading” with “cognitive onloading.” Khan Academy is also testing which changes encourage more students to participate in those exchanges: “Using data to decide which changes to Khanmigo actually engage students more in learning, we are working on new ways to help students to engage in this conversation.”

The AI tutor can now initiate the interaction by asking students to explain how they reached an answer. Students can decide whether to engage, but Khan Academy says the change reduces the need for learners to recognize that they need help and formulate a question themselves.

Khan explained why the first design was changed: “The AI could not just sit next to the content. It had to be woven into it. We had to make productive struggle harder to sidestep.”

Khan Academy also positions the integration as a classroom support for teachers. Khanmigo can provide immediate feedback while students work independently, leaving teachers to focus on motivation, small-group instruction and students requiring direct intervention.

Khan Academy reports early signs of improvement

DiCerbo said Khanmigo now receives more information about each learner’s skill development and recent performance.

She also reported stronger performance following some AI-supported interactions: “After interactions with Khanmigo, we’re seeing improvement in learners’ performance when they next try a similar problem without Khanmigo’s help.”

DiCerbo did not provide figures, a sample size or further methodological information for that claim.

Khan also acknowledged limits in the underlying AI models. He said AI remains weak at producing standards-aligned educational content on demand and works more effectively when paired with Khan Academy’s human-created instructional materials.

He contrasted Khanmigo with what he described as “flashy, unproven AI tools” that make broad claims while operating as wrappers around large language models with limited safeguards. Khan Academy says Khanmigo includes safety protocols, teacher oversight and links to its existing learning content.

Khan also acknowledged that some capabilities shown in earlier AI demonstrations have taken longer to reach usable products than he expected: “In May 2024, I made a video with my son that showed a demo of a tutor that could see what we were drawing and converse back and forth. We are only now starting to see some of the model capabilities that would allow Khanmigo to interact with visuals outside of a demo environment.”

He added: “Some things I envisioned will happen more slowly. Some may not work out. And some will go on to help improve learner outcomes.”