My Friend’s Daughter Came Home with a Tablet Instead of Books
My friend Eunji’s 10-year-old daughter started the school year in 2025 with a government-issued tablet instead of printed textbooks. Within a month, Eunji was furious. The AI-powered digital textbook had presented incorrect historical dates in a social studies lesson. The math module’s “adaptive learning” kept cycling her daughter through problems she had already mastered while skipping concepts she actually needed help with. And her daughter’s screen time had roughly doubled, since homework now required the same device she used for YouTube and games.
Eunji’s experience is far from unique. Rest of World reported that Korea’s AI textbook program faced significant backlash just four months after launch, with parents, teachers, and even students pushing back against the rapid digitalization of education. The controversy highlights a fundamental tension in Korean education: the government’s ambitious vision for AI-powered learning versus practical concerns about its impact on children.
What the AI Textbook Program Actually Is
The Korean Ministry of Education launched AI-powered digital textbooks as part of a broader plan to modernize education. The system uses artificial intelligence to adapt content to each student’s learning pace, provide instant feedback on exercises, and offer personalized study recommendations. The government committed to training all teachers in digital education technology by 2026 and plans to eventually replace traditional textbooks across multiple subjects.
The World Bank profiled Korean teachers who are leading the “AI revolution” in classrooms, highlighting the potential benefits: students who fall behind can receive targeted remediation, advanced students can accelerate, and teachers can spend less time on rote instruction and more on creative thinking and discussion. On paper, it sounds transformative.
The Problems That Emerged
The reality has been more complicated. Three major issues dominated the backlash. First, factual accuracy. Multiple instances of incorrect information in the AI-curated content were reported across schools. When textbooks are printed, errors go through multiple rounds of expert review before publication. The AI system’s curation process proved less reliable, and the speed of content generation meant errors could propagate before being caught.
Second, screen time and its developmental consequences. Korea already had a significant screen time problem among children — an NIH-affiliated study found that approximately 25% of Korean adolescents meet criteria for problematic social media use. Adding mandatory school tablet time to existing recreational screen time pushed many children past 6-7 hours of daily screen exposure. Pediatricians and child psychologists raised alarms about impacts on attention development, sleep quality, and myopia rates.
Third, data privacy. The AI textbook system collects detailed learning data on each student — what they struggle with, how long they spend on each topic, their performance patterns. Parents questioned who has access to this data, how long it is stored, and whether it could be used in ways that disadvantage their children (such as algorithmic tracking that limits future educational opportunities).
The Government’s Response and Current Status
The Ministry of Education has acknowledged the concerns while defending the program’s long-term vision. Korea Herald reported the government’s plans to expand AI education with additional safeguards, including stricter content review processes, parental opt-out provisions, and screen time limits built into the tablet software. The 2026 AI-based child protection system, reported by Korea Times, includes measures to detect online exploitation targeting students using school-issued devices.
What Parents Should Do
For parents of children in Korean schools, my practical advice based on conversations with educators and other parents: First, actively monitor what your child is learning through the digital platform — do not assume the AI content is always accurate. Second, enforce clear boundaries between educational screen time and recreational screen time, ideally using the tablet’s built-in parental controls. Third, supplement digital learning with physical books and offline activities. Fourth, communicate with teachers about your concerns — many teachers share parents’ frustrations and are working to balance digital and traditional methods. The Korean education system’s embrace of AI is likely irreversible, but parents can shape how it is implemented for their own children.
