SEJONG -- Starting in March next year, classrooms across South Korea will see a new digital transformation. Instead of opening up textbooks, third, fourth, and seventh graders, along with first-year high school students, will turn on their digital devices to participate in class.

On Monday, the Ministry of Education unveiled 76 government-certified artificial intelligence-based digital textbooks, showcasing their capabilities through a demonstration to reporters. If successfully implemented, South Korea would become the world’s first country to roll out AI-powered digital textbooks on a national scale.

"I'm practicing my dance moves."

As an official from one of the companies that developed AI digital textbooks for middle school English clicked on the recording button and read the sentence on the screen, the AI system immediately analyzed her pronunciation and intonation, providing feedback in real time.

In a typical English class here, students usually raise their hands to read sentences aloud or be called on by the teacher.

But with these "tailored" AI textbooks, every student can now have their speaking and writing skills assessed by an AI tutor instead of relying solely on teacher evaluations, according to the ministry.

“Introverted students sometimes feel burdened by speaking English out loud in class, but with AI digital textbooks, they can take voice assessments without such pressure,” explained the demonstrator.

Students will raise their hands less for questions, as the textbooks also feature an AI chatbot that assists students with grammar.

During the demonstration, a mock student struggling with the present tense clicked on the chatbot and asked, “How should I use the present tense?”

The AI tutor responded instantly, telling the student to "use the verb 'be' plus 'ing' form."

Once the student completed the sentence, the AI textbook corrected grammar, composition and word choice on the spot, and the results were immediately delivered to the teachers' screen.

As the initiative driven by the Education Ministry hopes to "wake up the classroom," games to learn the meaning of English words or to practice forming sentences were also provided within the textbook.

Teachers would no longer have to make class materials using paper.

Currently, teachers are responsible for creating, printing, distributing and grading paper-based assessments. With AI textbooks, much of this manual work will be alleviated.

Teachers will be able to create personalized assessments for individual students, assign targeted homework and track their progress over time -- all within the digital platform.

Despite the optimism, some educators express concerns.

“Even if the AI diagnoses student levels, it is still the teacher’s role to synthesize this information and provide specific feedback,” one teacher noted.

Others worry about the short timeline to prepare for the transition. With just three months left before the new semester begins, varying levels of digital literacy among teachers could create challenges in implementation.

Parents have also raised concerns about students’ over-dependence on digital devices and the potential decline in literacy skills from reduced use of traditional books. While developers demonstrated features designed to keep students focused -- such as locking screens to specific pages during lessons -- skepticism remains.

“AI textbooks are tools designed to help teachers innovate their classrooms and realize personalized education for students,” said an official from the Ministry of Education. “We will provide continued support to ensure their successful adoption and address concerns raised by educators and parents alike.”