South Korea's ambitious plan to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into its public education system, which was set to begin with AI-powered digital textbooks in early 2025, has been significantly scaled back. Facing considerable opposition from educators and parents, the government reversed its mandatory AI textbook policy by August 2025. This policy shift has reclassified AI resources as "educational materials," removing their official textbook status and associated funding.
The initiative, initially intended to provide personalized, adaptive learning experiences, encountered substantial challenges. These included technical and legal hurdles, as well as widespread societal anxieties about AI's impact on employment, particularly the automation of teaching tasks. The South Korean experience is now being viewed as a cautionary tale for educational systems globally, emphasizing the risks of rapid AI adoption without thorough stakeholder engagement.
The original rollout in early 2025 involved AI textbooks for mathematics and English for third and fourth graders, and for mathematics, English, and information technology for first-year middle and high school students. However, issues such as unreliable hardware and network failures quickly disrupted lessons. Many teachers, receiving limited training, found themselves managing technical problems alongside their teaching duties, leading to operational difficulties and a reversion to traditional materials in some instances.
Significant opposition from parents, including a petition signed by over 56,000 individuals, and a survey indicating 94% of trained teachers felt the AI textbooks were unnecessary, highlighted a critical gap in trust. These concerns, coupled with the substantial investment of an estimated 800 billion won in AI textbook development by companies, have led to uncertainty and potential job losses in the sector.
The pivot in South Korea's approach now positions AI as a supplementary tool rather than a replacement for human instruction. This recalibration emphasizes the development of ethical frameworks and a hybrid model where technology augments, rather than supplants, the role of educators. The rollback also underscores the importance of addressing potential risks associated with AI in education, including privacy concerns, equity issues, and the potential for over-reliance on technology, prompting a greater international focus on media literacy and critical thinking skills.