In the rush to adopt AI in education, most solutions have been task-driven and output-focused – think of chatbots that answer questions or auto-generate lesson content.
These tools can boost efficiency, but they often act as passive helpers rather than transformative teaching partners.
As Professor B. Mairéad Pratschke states in Generative AI and Education: Digital Pedagogies, Teaching Innovation and Learning Design and in her talk at the 2025 Open edX Conference (video here), the first wave of generative AI in education leaned heavily on “efficiency tools” for tasks like summarizing or lesson planning, with far less emphasis on effectiveness – actual learning outcomes.
Her work urges a shift from an output-driven mindset to one centered on the learning process, treating AI as a collaborative presence in the classroom rather than just a content dispenser.
In practice, this means moving beyond AI that simply delivers answers to AI that actively engages learners and fosters human-to-human connections.
Pratschke emphasizes that learning is not just cognitive but also social. Drawing on frameworks like the Community of Inquiry, she stresses that effective digital education must integrate social and teaching presence.
What many AI tools miss is the human connection – the relational dimension that sustains motivation and deeper engagement.
Beyond Chatbots: AI as a Community Facilitator
For years, we’ve seen AI mainly as chatbots that answer questions. Now, AI is moving beyond just Q&A. It’s starting to act as a community facilitator – especially in education and training. In this new role, AI doesn’t replace the human touch, but it supports it. It helps create active learning communities rather than just providing facts.
How does this work in practice? Think of an AI joining your group discussion like a helpful co-moderator. It can do things such as:
- Moderating group discussions: AI can keep conversations on track and enforce basic ground rules. For example, it might notice when the talk drifts off-topic or gets heated and gently steer it back in the right direction.
- Encouraging quieter learners to contribute: An AI facilitator pays attention to who hasn’t spoken. It can politely prompt quieter members to share their thoughts, making sure everyone’s voice is heard.
- Guiding conversation toward learning goals: If the discussion is wandering away from the main topic or learning objectives, AI can bring the focus back. It might ask a pointed question or recap the goal to refocus the group.
- Providing feedback to participants: Much like a teaching assistant, AI can give feedback during or after the discussion. It could summarize key points or highlight insightful comments so participants know what stood out.
This shift marks a big change: AI is no longer just answering individuals, it’s helping groups learn together. And this isn’t just a theory—some new tools are already starting to put this community-focused approach into practice, as we’ll see next.
Human2Human.ai – Social Learning at Scale
A concrete example of this new paradigm is Human2Human.ai, an emerging platform built explicitly to turn online learning into a rich community experience.
Human2Human.ai uses AI to guide real-time group discussions, ensure structured and equitable participation, and deliver personalized feedback to each learner.
In essence, it’s an AI co-facilitator that helps educators scale up the best practices of an interactive classroom.
The platform tackles classic problems like low engagement and isolation that plague many online courses, especially MOOCs.
By injecting live, AI-guided discussion sessions, it boosts motivation and accountability. Learners report that discussions feel more focused and rewarding, while instructors benefit from automated assessment and feedback.
Human2Human.ai exemplifies how AI can be designed not to replace human educators, but to amplify them.
It creates a social presence in online courses – the feeling that learners and instructors are “there” together – which has been linked to higher engagement and better outcomes.
Grounded in Learning Science
This vision of AI-facilitated community learning is grounded in established learning science frameworks.
Social Constructivism: learners build knowledge through interaction; AI scaffolds discussions by asking probing questions.
Community of Inquiry (CoI): success requires social, cognitive, and teaching presence – all enhanced by AI.
Connectivism: learning occurs across networks of people and technology. AI weaves connections in real time.
Generative Learning: students actively make meaning; AI prompts reflection and dialogue, not passive consumption.
The synergy of generative AI with generative learning theory creates a powerful model: learning as an active, collaborative dialogue.
From Isolated MOOCs to Intelligent Communities
The stakes become clear when we look at MOOCs, where completion rates are often below 10% (source).
Delivering content isn’t enough—students drop out due to low engagement, limited accountability, and isolation.
AI can change this. By enabling structured peer discussions and live AI-facilitated sessions, MOOCs can become intelligent communities.
Instead of just watching lectures, learners join live debates and collaborative problem-solving with AI guidance.
Early pilots show higher motivation, participation, and inclusivity. Instructors also benefit: AI handles moderation and feedback at scale, making it possible to support thousands of learners without sacrificing interaction quality.
This transforms online learning into a community of inquiry – a vibrant ecosystem of learners and AI mentors co-creating knowledge.
Supporting research confirms these insights (Zenodo study).
A Call to Build Learning Communities, Not Just Deliver Content
The message is clear: the next leap in digital learning will come from building connections, not just delivering content.
Investing in AI that fosters collaboration directly addresses the challenges of dropout rates and learner isolation.
Instead of asking, “How can AI create content for my course?” we should be asking, “How can AI create community in my course?”
The future of digital education will not be defined by the smartest machine delivering lectures, but by intelligent communities of learners uplifted by AI-driven facilitation.
This is a future where every learner feels seen, heard, and supported—whether in a class of 30 or 30,000.
👉 It’s time to adopt AI tools that don’t just deliver content, but deliver community.
More about this approach at Human2Human.ai.
