Confusion Over AI Textbook Status...Development Companies Face Loss of Hundreds of Billions in Investment

Ministry of Education Postpones Full Introduction of AI Textbooks by One Year
Opposition Party Pushes Bill to Downgrade 'Textbooks' to 'Educational Materials'
Education Industry: "Difficult to Recover Hundreds of Billions of Won in Development Costs"

The Ministry of Education's plan to fully implement the ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) Digital Textbook’ (hereinafter AI Textbook) starting this year has been postponed, allowing schools to choose autonomously for one year. This has caused alarm among educational companies developing AI textbooks. Due to strong opposition from some teachers, parents, and political circles, it is expected that the adoption rate will significantly drop if left to autonomous choice, potentially resulting in the loss of hundreds of billions of won invested in AI textbook development.

On the morning of the 13th, the Korea Textbook Association and AI textbook developers held a joint press conference at the Irum Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, urging the Ministry of Education to maintain the status of AI textbooks as official textbooks. This press conference was organized after the Ministry of Education postponed the mandatory introduction of AI textbooks and the political circles pushed for the passage of a bill downgrading AI textbooks to ‘educational materials.’

On the 2nd, at the Ministry of Education's main conference room in the Government Sejong Complex, an official explained participatory classes and student-tailored education methods based on the key features of the Artificial Intelligence Digital Textbook (AIDT) during the demonstration event of the final approved English version of the AI digital textbook. Photo by Yonhap News

AI textbooks have been a key project promoted by the Ministry of Education. Initially, the Ministry planned to introduce AI textbooks in English, Math, and Information subjects for 3rd and 4th graders in elementary school and 1st graders in middle and high school starting this March. Many educational companies jumped into AI textbook development, and through last year’s certification review, 76 titles from 12 applicants were finally approved.

However, the plan was immediately halted. The opposition party led the initiative to propose a bill defining AI textbooks as educational materials, arguing that the effectiveness of AI textbooks had not been verified. Textbooks must be adopted by all schools and are covered by free education, whereas educational materials are chosen at the discretion of school principals and are not covered by free education. If downgraded to educational materials, usage rates could drastically decline. Coupled with opposition from some teachers and parents, the Ministry of Education decided to postpone the full introduction of AI textbooks by one year.

This has put companies developing AI textbooks in a difficult position. The development cost for AI textbooks is reportedly around 3 billion won per subject. For companies developing multiple subjects, nearly 30 billion won has been invested. Companies that failed last year’s certification review are also in a state of emergency. They have continued development planning to participate in this year’s review, but if downgraded to educational materials, the development would effectively lose its meaning.

A representative from an educational company developing AI textbooks said, “We invested hundreds of billions of won and manpower trusting the government’s plan to develop AI textbooks, but if the downgrade to educational materials is confirmed, the project will be completely reconsidered. Without mandatory adoption, we expect very few schools to choose AI textbooks, making it impossible to recover development costs.”

Within the industry, there is a high possibility of collective action by developers. Since developers started AI textbook development based on the premise of mandatory adoption this year, they are likely to file administrative lawsuits demanding the withdrawal of the postponement. Currently, the Ministry of Education has not yet completed subscription fee negotiations with publishers who passed the certification.

An industry insider said, “Many companies that passed the AI textbook certification this year have portfolios consisting solely of textbooks, so if AI textbooks are canceled, the impact will be significant. If the project does not proceed as originally planned, a series of lawsuits may follow.”