The small Baltic nation of Estonia is emerging as an AI powerhouse. Estonia is pursuing an AI-based education integration program and expanding AI-assisted cancer diagnosis technology and automated digital administrative services. The government is also actively exploring applying AI in the judicial sector. ChosunBiz interviews practitioners using AI across sectors in Estonia to hear how the country has managed to transform into an AI leader. [Editor's note]
"Students are already widely using commercial artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Instead of blocking them unconditionally, the 'AI Leap 2025' project was created to define the most effective ways to use them. The aim is to help students learn proper AI usage and apply it to their studies."
In Feb., the Estonian government officially announced a nationwide initiative to integrate AI technology into the curriculum. It is the so-called "AI Leap 2025" project. Through it, teachers and students are granted access to AI and conduct classes based on an AI chatbot designed for education. It is now in phased pilot operation, with experts leading efforts to advance the chatbot.
Earlier, Estonia also led the creation of a digital education environment through various policies such as classroom internet deployment in 1997 and free provision of digital textbooks in 2018. Minister Kristina Kallas of the Ministry of Education emphasized, "Estonia's economic competitiveness depends on how well we can prepare young people for the AI era."
With this in mind, we spoke via video with Ivo Visak, head of the AI Leap 2025 project, to discuss Estonia's public education in the AI era. The following is a Q&A with Visak.
─Please introduce the AI Leap 2025 project.
"AI Leap 2025 is a public-private partnership project that Estonia is pursuing to introduce AI into the education system. The goal goes beyond simply distributing AI learning tools to schools to redesigning teaching methods, assessment structures, and even the role of teachers. Recently, students have widely used AI-based applications in their learning process, and there was concern that indiscriminate use could undermine thinking and learning skills. In response, President Alar Karis announced the introduction of this project on Estonia's Independence Day in Feb., leading to the launch in Apr. of the AI Leap Foundation, composed of experts including teachers, youth organizations, education scholars, and technology company developers.
The project is quickly taking root on the ground. It is currently in a pilot phase, with an educational chatbot provided to first- and second-year high school students. Starting next year, the scope will expand to all high school grades and vocational education, and high school teachers are also undergoing "AI literacy training" to learn how to use the chatbot and its effects. Feedback and data generated during the pilot phase are collected by a research team at the national University of Tartu and used to enhance the chatbot."
─What distinguishes the government-developed educational chatbot? How is it different from chatbots on the market?
"The biggest feature of the educational chatbot is that its functions and role are strictly limited to learning purposes. Commercial chatbots on the market are designed to provide complete answers as quickly as possible. The educational chatbot is different. Instead of giving immediate answers, it guides students to a step-by-step approach to problem-solving, helps them recognize which concept they are stuck on, and provides only the necessary hints. In other words, it aims to be a 'tutor-type tool' that focuses on building long-term learning ability and self-regulation rather than short-term task completion.
Technically, the educational chatbot is built on OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Students log in to the existing platforms and enter their school ID to switch to the educational version and use the learning chatbot. Collaboration with the two platforms is renewed on one-year contracts by design, given the pace of technological advancement and the need for control in public education. Each year the chatbot's performance, educational suitability, and privacy standards are reassessed, leaving open the possibility of using a more advanced platform if needed. Commercial use of student data is restricted in principle, and any feature change within the chatbot must be reviewed by the AI Leap Foundation and University of Tartu researchers."
─How are people responding in the field? What does AI adoption mean for parents and teachers?
"At first, both parents and teachers expressed concerns. Parents in particular pointed out the possibility that children might rely excessively on AI, raising issues that thinking and writing skills could be weakened. The goal of this project, however, is not 'replace all teaching tools with AI' but rather 'add AI as one teaching tool.' Instead of encouraging indiscriminate AI use, we are setting clear reference points. In this respect, there has been a positive response that a common standard has emerged at home to guide children's use of AI. Because the learning process is recorded and teachers can monitor it, it can alleviate anxiety."
"For teachers, the introduction of AI signifies a more fundamental change. With existing assignments and assessment methods, there are limits to guiding students. Teachers say their role in class has shifted to more qualitative areas after AI's introduction. Routine knowledge transmission and repetitive assignment-centered tasks are decreasing, while the need to observe students' thinking processes and learning attitudes and intervene directly has grown. This change ultimately demands higher professionalism and educational philosophy from teachers."
─Estonia has drawn attention as an education powerhouse, ranking first in Europe in the most recent 2022 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). What is the secret?
"It is difficult to explain Estonia's educational achievements as the result of a single policy or a specific teaching method. However, I believe high trust in public education—especially in teachers—has been an important foundation. In Estonian education, teachers are not mere 'implementers' of policy but 'co-designers.' When new policies or tools are introduced, they participate from the initial discussion stage and later have full discretion over teaching methods and textbook selection. The curriculum provides only direction and goals, ensuring teacher autonomy.
"In this project as well, teachers have built AI competencies through a PLC (Professional Learning Community) model. Schools and regions operate PLC sessions, providing a forum where teachers share AI usage methods and classroom cases and jointly derive solutions. This is meaningful in that the teaching community itself has directly shaped a new educational paradigm, and it is also evidence that the Estonian government highly values teachers' expertise."
─What is the ultimate goal of the AI Leap project?
"In the long term, the goal is to share a validated education model with the international community. If this project proves effective, it could be applied to other countries' public education systems. Based on principles for using AI in public education, we aim for an open structure that allows each country to implement AI systems suited to its education environment, language, and curriculum. Through AI Leap 2025, Estonia hopes to leave a strong example of the standards and responsibilities under which public education should operate in the AI era."