Anthropic to bring its AI to hundreds of teachers in Iceland to help them prepare lessons

Anthropic, the maker of the Claude large language model (LLM), is partnering with Iceland to bring its AI technology to teachers across the country.

The project, announced on Tuesday, is described by the American company as “one of the world’s first comprehensive national artificial intelligence education pilots”.

It will give hundreds of teachers in Iceland access to Claude with the aim of helping them with lesson planning, classroom materials, and administrative work.

The pilot is intended to test how AI tools can “benefit Icelandic schools, support teachers in their instruction and preparation, and enhance student learning,” Anthropic said.

Teachers will be able to use the system to analyse text, explain mathematical problems and adapt lessons for different learning needs.

"We're proud to partner with Iceland's Ministry of Education and Children to help teachers save time and create better learning experiences for their students," said Anthropic's Head of public sector, Thiyagu Ramasamy, in a statement.

"For too long, teachers have been weighed down by paperwork and administrative tasks, hidden burdens that pull them away from what they do best: teaching,” Ramasamy added.

The AI will learn from each educator's unique teaching methods and materials.

Iceland’s Education and Children Minister, Guðmundur Ingi Kristinsson, said the government wanted to explore the potential of AI in education while being mindful of the "harm".

"Here, we take the leap and embark on an ambitious project aimed at examining the use of artificial intelligence in various areas of education, with the needs of teachers as our guiding principle and using technology from global leaders in the field," Kristinsson said in a statement.

The pilot programme includes training and technical support for participating teachers, with the system also supporting Icelandic and several other languages, which Anthropic says will help “foster more welcoming and empowering learning environments”.

The government has not disclosed the duration or cost of the pilot.

Anthropic is not the only AI company to begin working with teachers. OpenAI announced in September that it was partnering with the Greek government to bring its technology to secondary schools and the country’s start-ups.

Estonia too is launching a national AI initiative to equip teachers and students with AI tools. It is unclear which AI company it will use.

Meanwhile, Anthropic has been expanding its partnerships with public institutions in Europe.

In February, the United Kingdom government signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Antrophic to enhance how people in the UK access and interact with government information and services online.