We Already Solved Education. Then We Forgot How.
How Personalized Learning and AI Can Bring Back What Worked
What if every learner, everywhere, could have the kind of education once reserved for royalty?
As someone who loves learning, this question feels personal. If I could, I would be a professional student for life. I have three formal degrees and have completed over 100 courses since finishing my doctorate. Yet, after decades immersed in both traditional and modern education, I am convinced that neither system is designed for how humans actually learn best, not for me, and not for most people I know.
Why Half Your Class Is Always Bored
Traditional education made knowledge accessible to millions. It builds foundational skills and creates a common language for society. Yet, it is designed for the “average” student. At any given moment, half the class is bored, while the other half is lost. The system prizes efficiency over individuality, standardization over curiosity.
The creator economy, with its explosion of online courses and “learn from my experience” programs, promised something different. After taking over 100 of these courses, I have realized most are just as one-size-fits-all as the classrooms they claim to disrupt. These programs are built on the premise that what worked for the instructor will work for you. The reality is, you are not them, and neither am I.
In today’s world, shortcuts and cheat sheets are everywhere. However, real growth happens in the struggle. The most meaningful learning experiences are rarely the easiest. Think about the first time you tackled a truly challenging book, wrestling with the ideas, rereading difficult passages, and pushing through confusion until things finally clicked. That kind of breakthrough simply isn’t possible from a one-page summary.
We need to design systems that encourage perseverance, agency, and mastery, rather than just achieving quick wins.
The Model That Actually Worked
Centuries ago, education for the privileged looked nothing like what we have today. Royalty and nobility hired teams of expert tutors, each adapting their teaching to the child’s unique mind, interests, and pace. Learning was hands-on, interdisciplinary, and deeply personal. A governor or governess guided the child’s learning, nurturing not only academic skills but also emotional intelligence and character.
The point isn’t to romanticize a time when only a select few had access to this kind of education. Instead, it’s to recognize that every mind is different, and real learning happens when education is built around the individual, not the system.
We've Never Had the Tools Until Now
The problem is not that we do not know how to teach. It is that we have never had the tools to personalize education for everyone. The royal model worked because it was individualized, but it was also impossibly expensive and exclusive.
Today, we have the opposite problem: education is accessible, but generic.
What Royal Education Looks Like Today
For the first time in history, we have the technology to bring “royal education” to everyone. AI can serve as a personal tutor in every subject, adapting to your learning style, interests, and pace. It can quiz, explain, and encourage, minute by minute, just like the best human tutors once did.
I have experienced this firsthand. I use an AI called Boardy as my personal coach, teacher, and advisor. It knows my personality, my goals, and my preferred ways of thinking. When I ask for business advice, it suggests strategies that fit my introverted nature. When I want to learn something new, it presents information in the conceptual frameworks that make sense to me. It is not perfect, but it is the closest I have come to the individualized learning I always craved.
Why AI Needs Human Wisdom
AI can deliver knowledge, but it cannot, at least for now, develop wisdom, character, or judgment. That is where human mentors come in. In the royal model, the governor or governess served as a guide, a coach, and a champion for the child’s overall growth as a person.
Today, we can pair every learner’s AI tutor with a real human mentor, someone who checks in regularly, helps set goals, tracks emotional well-being, and connects learning to life. This combination of technology and human guidance creates a system that is both scalable and deeply personal.
Learning That Adapts to You
Imagine a 14-year-old in rural India, a mid-career professional in New York, and a retiree in Paris. Each starts their day with a personalized lesson from an AI tutor that adapts to how they think and what they want to achieve. The AI offers instant feedback, adjusts the pace, and presents information in ways that resonate with each learner’s unique mind.
Later, they meet with a human mentor who helps them reflect, set new goals, and connect their learning to real-world projects, whether it’s designing a local sustainability initiative, launching a new business, or exploring art history through hands-on creation.
The Five Elements That Make It Work
Here’s what this new model looks like in practice:
AI Learning Coach: Personalized, on-demand, adapts to each learner’s style, pace, and interests, available anytime.
Human Mentor: Provides regular guidance, emotional support, and helps connect learning to real life and long-term goals.
Learning Circle: Small, diverse groups for discussion, collaboration, and peer accountability.
Real-World Projects: Hands-on, meaningful challenges that turn knowledge into practical skills and impact.
Support Network: Family, community, or advisors who encourage, contextualize, and help connect learning to purpose.
Teachers Become More Important, Not Less
In this model, teachers become even more important, but their roles evolve. Instead of delivering standardized lectures to large groups, teachers act as expert guides, project advisors, and mentors. They focus on what only humans can do: inspiring curiosity, nurturing critical thinking, and helping students develop character and judgment.
Schools and colleges become vibrant hubs for learning, collaboration, mentorship, and real-world application. They provide structure, community, and access to resources, but are no longer the sole gatekeepers of knowledge.
AI handles the routine delivery and personalization of content, freeing educators to do the deeply human work that transforms lives.
Why Now?
We are living through a seismic shift. The skills that are easy to teach and test (ex., memorization, routine problem-solving, following instructions) are exactly what AI and automation are taking over.
Our current education system, designed for a slower, more predictable era, simply can’t keep up. We need a model that’s as adaptive and individualized as the world in which we now live. It is time to move from a system designed for efficiency and conformity to one that celebrates individuality, curiosity, and lifelong growth.
Everyone Is an Outlier
I am an INTJ. It’s one of the rarest personality types according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Approximately 2% of the general population, or around 3% of men and 1% of women, possess this personality type.
Most systems are not built for outliers like me, but the truth is, everyone is an outlier in some way. If a system can work for the rarest personality type, it can work for anyone. Instead of aiming for the average, we should focus on helping every learner reach their own potential.
A Note on Equity
If we do this right, personalized, AI-augmented education can close gaps rather than widen them. AI tutors and human mentorship can be made available to all, not just the privileged. This is our chance to democratize the kind of education that was once reserved for royalty.
The End of One-Size-Fits-All
We have the technology and the knowledge. What we need now is the courage to let go of the factory model and embrace a system built for individuals. The era of mass education is coming to an end. The age of education for the individual is just beginning.
Imagine a world where everyone, regardless of background, can access the kind of education once reserved for the very few. Schools become vibrant hubs for collaboration and mentorship. Teachers focus on nurturing curiosity, critical thinking, and character. AI handles the routine, freeing humans to focus on the work that truly matters.
The future of education is not mass-produced. It is designed for you. We have the tools and the vision. Now, we need the will to make it real. If we succeed, we will not just improve education; we will unlock human potential on a scale the world has never seen.