Across Africa, parents embrace AI math tutor
Rori has reached roughly 250,000 students across Liberia, Rwanda, Ghana, and Sierra Leone.
Across Africa, parents are enthusiastically embracing AI math tutors in their children's education, according to Shabnam Aggarwal, chief technology officer of Rising Academies in Sierra Leone. Unlike many American parents who express concerns about AI in elementary grades, African parents view AI as a means to "give their kids a leg up," she explained.
Rising Academies developed an AI tool named Rori, which creates math and other lessons for students via WhatsApp. The tool dynamically adjusts the difficulty based on students' responses. It is written in natural language and is designed to function even in areas with poor connectivity. Rori is intended to complement classroom learning, which has been adversely affected by Africa's significant teacher shortage.
Aggarwal noted that teachers are working diligently, but they lack the necessary support and training. While the introduction of AI in education would be controversial in other parts of the world, a recent study in 2023 involving 500 students in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, and Ghana found that those using Rori for two 30-minute sessions per week outperformed a control group by roughly one additional year of study.
Rising Academies is now expanding Rori's reach to government schools in these countries. Similar experiments are underway in other regions, such as Nigeria, where a 2025 study revealed that access to Microsoft Copilot enhanced students' English learning.
Written by urgent.news from Semafor's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
