The AI Math Tutor Helping Millions of Students 

The problem: For decades, mathematics education struggled to scale effective one-on-one instruction. Traditional classrooms could not offer every student personalized, immediate feedback, leading to inconsistent learning and widening performance gaps. The critical challenge was how to use technology to deliver high-quality, individualized instruction at a national scale. 

The solution: The National Science Foundation funded pioneering work at Carnegie Mellon University to develop computer-based math tutors. CMU researchers developed an AI-powered software that provides highly personalized and adaptive learning experiences. This breakthrough was based on cognitive science and machine learning algorithms that mimic the effectiveness of a personal tutor, transforming academic theory into commercial reality. 

The impact: The CMU work led to the launch of Carnegie Learning in 1998, which provides award-winning math, literacy, and world language tutoring products to more than 5.5 million students in over 4,500 school districts in all 50 states and Canada. 

Go deeper: Carnegie Learning case studies