Aidan Friedberg: Working to Close the Global Learning Gap through AI

Ladderworks is a publishing platform of diverse picture books and online curriculum with the mission to empower over a million kids to become social entrepreneurs. Our current series features interviews by our interplanetary journalist Spiffy with inspiring Social Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builders, and Changemakers who are advancing the UN SDGs.

Spiffy here! I’m back with the scoop on the entrepreneurial leaders of Planet Earth. As the only interplanetary journalist stationed on this blue planet, I’m thrilled to present this galactic exclusive with Aidan Friedberg, director of research and AI at EIDU. Let’s see what he is doing to make a positive impact in the world.

Spiffy: Welcome Aidan. Let’s jump right in. Can you tell me what challenge are you addressing at EIDU?

Aidan: Thanks for having me, Spiffy. Our work tackles the critical challenge of ensuring that every child, regardless of circumstances, acquires foundational literacy and numeracy skills. This is crucial because an estimated 600 million children worldwide will not acquire these skills. We provide an open digital platform designed to enable governments and support all stakeholders—students, teachers, trainers, and administrators—enabling cost-effective, scalable, and impactful education solutions. Aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 4, we aim to close the global learning gap and build a future where every child thrives through education.

Spiffy: That’s great! What motivates you to do it?

Aidan: My early career experience as a volunteer teacher and math tutor in underserved communities motivated me to use my data science skills to address systemic barriers in education. Over seven years at EIDU, I’ve been inspired by the dedication of educators, communities, and my team as we’ve grown from a small pilot in Kibera to reaching hundreds of thousands of learners across multiple countries. One year of our program has now been measured to be equivalent to 1.5 years of regular schooling. I want to continue building on this success as we expand its impact to millions of learners worldwide.

Spiffy: Wow! What would you say is the impact of your work?

Aidan: The artificial intelligence (AI) solutions we build directly improve learning outcomes for children in low-resource settings. Learners benefit from adaptive content tailored to their needs, accelerating literacy and numeracy skills. Teachers gain actionable insights into students' needs, supported by AI-customized lesson plans that save time and enhance instructional quality. By placing ethical development and safety at the core of our solutions, we ensure the sustainability of our impact.

Spiffy: Tell me about a recent milestone/initiative by you or your org. What impact does that make?

Aidan: As part of the 2024 Google.org Accelerator Program, we developed a multimodal generative AI tool that is offline-compatible and creates targeted remedial lesson plans for struggling learners. This solution, piloted in Kenya, integrates seamlessly with the curriculum, empowering teachers with actionable support. Preliminary results show that learners who began the program at a disadvantage significantly closed gaps in literacy outcomes, demonstrating the potential to foster equitable learning progress at scale through novel technologies.

Spiffy: Is there anything else you would love to tell our audience?

Aidan: If we want AI to be a solution rather than a driver of gaps in global learning outcomes, we must design and build systems tailored for lower-income environments. This means creating AI that is offline-compatible, trained on culturally and contextually relevant data, and accessible to users with little to no digital literacy. Equally crucial is building AI ethically and safely, ensuring it protects data privacy, avoids bias, and aligns with the needs and dignity of all users.

Spiffy: Thanks for speaking with me today, Aidan—it’s been an honor!

Aidan Friedberg is the director of research and AI at EIDU. He has been a key contributor to EIDU’s mission of creating impactful edtech solutions for low- and middle-income countries for the past seven years. With over a decade of experience and multiple peer-reviewed publications in Artificial Intelligence in Education, Aidan is deeply committed to leveraging AI for social impact. (Nominated by Ricki Meyer at Google.org. First published on the Ladderworks website on December 23, 2024.)

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect those of Ladderworks LLC.

© 2024 Ladderworks LLC. Edited by Sujit Kunte. Spiffy’s illustration by Shreyas Navare. For the Ladderworks digital curriculum to help K-3 kids advance the UN SDGs, visit Spiffy's Launchpad: Creative Entrepreneurship Workshops for K-3 Kids and their caregivers here.