Estonia has a reputation as one of the most digitally advanced nations in the world, thanks to its efficient digital platforms for government services and its startup-friendly culture. Its citizens’ digital prowess is largely due to the government’s decades-long campaign to bring technology into schools. Now, the government is launching AI Leap 2025, which will bring AI tools to an initial cohort of 20,000 high school students in September. Siim Sikkut, a former member of the Estonian government and part of the launch team, says the AI Leap program goes beyond just providing access to new technology. Its goal is to give students the skills they need to use it both ethically and effectively.
Slim Sikkut
Siim Sikkut served as the Estonian government’s chief information officer from 2017 to 2022, a role in which he created policies regarding digital government operations, cybersecurity, and connectivity. He is currently a managing partner at Digital Nation, an Estonian consulting firm that works with governments around the world.
What was the Tiger Leap program, and how is it the model for what you’re doing now?
Siim Sikkut: Tiger Leap was a program in the ’90s to bring computers and Internet and basic digital skills to all the schools in Estonia. I myself got exposed to all things Internet, because at that time, we didn’t have a chance to use them at home. These guys and girls became the founders of industry and of digital government, so it allowed us to make a leap in building a digital society in Estonia.
How does the AI Leap program follow that model?
Sikkut: Our thinking is now we have to do the same sort of leap and expose our younger generations to this next wave [of technology]. There are differences between the programs. Then it was, We’ll give you the access and the tools to do with what you like. Now, with AI tools, we feel it has to be a bit more curated. You need to learn to use them as opposed to just getting an easier way out of your homework. So it’s more of a skilling effort than just an access effort.
What will this look like in practice? What tools will the students have access to?
Sikkut: We are still negotiating with the partners and vendors, so I won’t be naming companies. But fundamentally, we’re talking about a conversational AI assistant that is trained in the context of Estonian language and Estonian curriculum. It will be built for educational use, so it won’t be, for example, the ChatGPT that you and I would use in our daily life. It will support the learning more. For example, you don’t just submit your homework and get the answers back. In that scenario, the tool starts to tutor you more than give you an answer. We’re re-creating conversational AI as a learning assistant, and ideally we’ll have a lot of smaller subject-based apps added to that. We will have in place at least one tool, a conversation tool, and then we’ll build on…
Read full article: Estonia’s AI Leap Brings Chatbots Into Schools
The post “Estonia’s AI Leap Brings Chatbots Into Schools” by Eliza Strickland was published on 06/25/2025 by spectrum.ieee.org