Estonia First to Welcome ChatGPT to Schools

Text Stewart Johnson 
Photo Raul Mee

President of Estonia Alar Karis (foreground), one of programme's initiators Linnar Viik.

OpenAI, which has revolutionised the world with its incredibly popular ChatGPT, has penned an agreement to bring AI to Estonian schools in a world-first pilot programme. Dubbed ChatGPT Edu, this version of the generative artificial intelligence chatbot will be geared toward teaching AI literacy in education.

Estonian government wants to integrate AI in curriculum

Starting in September 2025, teachers and students alike in the tenth and eleventh grades will be the first to have access to ChatGPT Edu in schools nationwide. While OpenAI states that nearly 80% of ChatGPT users are under 35 years of age, and that the vast majority of usage is focused on personal development and learning, it is still unclear what form the school version will take.

The pilot programme is called AI Leap, a reference to Estonia’s successful Tiger Leap initiative from the 1990s and early 2000s. Tiger Leap oversaw the modernisation and computerisation of the country’s educational system, which laid the foundation for Estonia’s world leadership in IT today. Examples of success stories would be Estonia’s globally renowned e-Residency programme, and the fact that NATO’s cyber defense force is headquartered in Tallinn, the capital city.

Estonia ready to adapt to AI

While ChatGPT Edu has been used by a handful of individual educational establishments around the world, Estonia’s case will be the first time it has been embraced by a government for use on the national level. Estonia is already one of the top fifteen countries in the world in terms of AI-adoption, with one in four citizens having a ChatGPT account.

Estonia is known for its embrace of technology. As President Alar Karis commented, “Artificial intelligence has permanently changed the world, and like all sectors, the education system must adapt to these changes.” Depending on Estonia’s success with integrating the AI chatbot into its educational system, other countries will likely follow suit. Yet again, Estonia is on the map for innovation.

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ChatGPT Education in Estonia Entrepreneurship Innovation OpenAI