For government leaders and educational institutions, that shift brings both urgency and opportunity. The question isn’t whether AI will reshape learning, it’s how quickly schools, agencies and public programs can adapt to meet these new expectations.
THE NEW LEARNING REALITY
Public institutions must now compete with platforms that deliver instant, personalized and highly visual content. By December 2023, according to Pew Research Center, approximately 7 out of 10 teens were using YouTube daily, and about 6 out of 10 said the same about TikTok. These habits extend well into college and the workforce — by May 2024, according to a survey of 929 people by the software company TechSmith, 83 percent of respondents said they preferred to consume informational content in video format.
This evolution signals a critical truth: Valuable content is gone if it doesn’t meet learners where they are. Traditional lectures and long-form courses struggle to keep attention, while AI-powered microlearning, video modules and adaptive tools thrive by matching the learner’s pace, device and preferred medium.
At the K-12 level, AI-first transformation is reshaping expectations for learning support. Platforms such as Khan Academy, including its AI-powered Khanmigo tutor, illustrate how personalized, on-demand guidance can scale beyond the classroom, setting new benchmarks for individualized instruction. These models are increasingly influencing how districts, educators and education technology providers define effective learning support.
For public education systems, this shift requires a rethinking of what “connection” and “relevance” mean in a digital-first world. Institutions must blend academic foundations with career-ready competencies, ensuring students are not only informed but prepared to navigate a rapidly changing economy.
Oleg Vilchinski
HOW GOVERNMENTS CAN MODERNIZE EDUCATION
There are several actionable strategies to modernize systems, expand revenue opportunities and strengthen engagement — approaches that public education leaders can implement at scale.
Shift From Static to Dynamic Learning Content
Legacy systems are expensive to maintain and slow to evolve. Now, many education providers have costly, time-consuming processes to create content and rely on static content with receding audiences. The alternative? Affordable, bite-sized and continuously updated modules that evolve alongside real-world needs.
Governments can fund and promote open, modular learning resources that allow agencies, community colleges and workforce programs to update training materials in weeks, not years.
Use Data Analytics to Personalize Learning
Predictive and advanced data analytics are essential to effective personalization. Public institutions can use AI-driven analytics to identify learning gaps, adapt content in real time and forecast skill needs in critical fields such as cybersecurity, infrastructure and public health.
That means moving from tracking participation to measuring outcomes — understanding not just who learns, but how they learn best.
Adopt Modular and Interoperable Learning
Governments can support modular and interoperable credential systems that recognize skills gained across institutions, programs and time, to better meet diverse needs of learners.
For public agencies, this translates into designing systems in which credentials are stackable, transferable and recognized across employers and education providers. These types of systems will make lifelong learning more practical and accessible, particularly for working adults and career changes.
Preserve What Works, Evolve What Doesn’t
Modernization does not require discarding what already works. There is a need to preserve high-quality content, subject-matter expertise and established regulatory structures, while delivering them in modern ways that improve engagement and access.
For public institutions, this means maintaining academic rigor and accreditation standards while using AI tools to support functions such as accessibility enhancements, adaptive pacing, translation and real-time learner feedback.
WHERE AI CREATES REAL IMPACT
AI is not only changing how students learn but also reshaping how educational content is created, managed and validated across public systems. AI-driven content optimization can help institutions revise and adapt learning materials more efficiently, rather than waiting for multiyear curriculum update cycles. AI can assist with tasks such as content revision, localization, formatting and relevance checks, ensuring materials remain current and aligned to evolving community and workforce needs.
AI can also play a meaningful role in quality assurance and alignment with compliance. Public education systems must maintain standards of accuracy, accessibility, equity and regulatory transparency. AI-supported review and validation workflows can help ensure that instructional materials, including AI-assisted ones, meet required standards before they are used in classrooms or public learning programs.
Finally, AI can help institutions broaden public engagement and outreach, especially with digital-native learners. AI-enabled content adaptation and distribution can support multilingual formatting, captioning, microcontent transformation and audience insight analysis, making it easier to deliver public learning resources across platforms that communities already use. This is not about marketing; it is about ensuring public education remains visible, accessible and culturally relevant in a digital-first communication environment.
Across these use cases, the role of AI is not to automate teaching or replace human judgment. Instead, AI serves as a supportive layer that strengthens content modernization, enhances instructional quality and expands equitable access, allowing educators and administrators to focus on what they do best: guiding learners, building community and maintaining public trust.
BUILDING THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC LEARNING
The shift toward AI-enabled learning is already underway, yet most institutions are still determining how to scale it responsibly. This underscores that meaningful progress is less about acquiring new tools and more about aligning governance, data readiness and instructional priorities.
For public education systems, the path forward involves modernizing digital infrastructure; ensuring clear guidelines for how AI supports, not replaces, educators; and maintaining transparency around how learning data is used. When implemented with purpose, AI can help expand access, personalize support and reinforce instructional quality.
Oleg Vilchinski is the vice president and co-head of North American East Business and global head of business information services at the digital services company EPAM Systems Inc.
