Jakarta. Miklos Sunario, the founder of education tech startup EduBeyond, said in a recent forum at the United Nations headquarters in New York that the use of artificial intelligence could change the definition of education from what we think it is today.

The Indonesian-born entrepreneur said that the old-school education system uses a similar approach for students with different needs and capabilities.

During the Jan. 31 UN forum, he identified the first crisis in education as “this idea that education is one-size-fits-all”.

“Whether you belong to the 2.3 percent who have a learning disability, or the 80 percent who find school disengaging and boring, the school has become a less so of an education, but more so of a certification,” Miklos said at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Partnership Forum in New York representing his company. 

“However, with the latest technologies, education can be personalized to maximize actual, interesting learning," said the 19-year-old.

The first issue led to the second crisis, as he quoted an estimate that 31.9 percent of high school students experience some form of anxiety disorder due to the conformity of the learning system.

Miklos, who currently lives in Canada, said AI could help tackle the issue by personalization in the education system that “could change people’s lives”.

These two problems are persistent because most people think that education is not of their concern. 

“With the digitization of education, it has become possible to identify talents at a much younger age and thus upskill these individuals with our AI technology,” he said.

With the digitization in education, even the definition of education itself has changed, Miklos said. 

On his Linkedin account, Miklos said he is honored to be given a chance to speak at a UN forum.

“This has been undoubtedly one of the most momentous (and nerve-wracking) experiences of my life. This speech being the first time I've spoken at the UN, I didn't even know we could simply read our prepared statements!” he wrote.

“To even receive applause in the end was truly humbling and gratifying, and I am so grateful to have had this opportunity.”

Miklos' EduBeyond has recently won an international award in a competition involving more than 1,500 startups from 85 countries.

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