AI Textbook, Ultimately Loses Textbook Status

[Financial News] After much difficulty, the AI Digital Textbook (AIDT), which was introduced to schools earlier this year, has lost its status as a textbook and has been demoted to educational material after just one semester. Confusion is expected in schools that applied to use AIDT in the second semester, and educational companies publishing AIDT are uncertain about recovering their investment of approximately 800 billion won.
With the passage of the related bill in the National Assembly plenary session on the 4th, AIDT can no longer hold the status of a 'textbook'. This is linked to the push to amend the 'Regulations on Textbook-Type Books', and the current certification event will be immediately suspended. These changes are expected to directly impact school sites preparing for the second semester academic operations. In particular, as the budget support basis for AIDT becomes unclear, there are concerns that the subscription fees previously covered by the education office may have to be converted to school expenses. Consequently, the possibility of schools wanting to use it but being unable to due to cost issues has increased.
The Ministry of Education is focused on minimizing confusion in the field following the passage of this bill. A Ministry of Education official stated, "As AIDT becomes educational material, we will closely coordinate with local education offices to prepare support measures to ensure there is no confusion in the field." He added, "Although specific support details have not yet been decided, we will coordinate support measures for local education offices and schools that wish to continue using it to ensure the overall direction of improving the quality of school education using AI is not shaken." Additionally, the Ministry of Education plans to quickly provide FAQs and expedite related legal amendments to ensure there are no disruptions in the second semester academic operations.
However, educational companies publishing AIDT are in a state of emergency. Despite years of massive investment and development costs to develop and distribute AIDT to schools, the withdrawal of its status has made the recovery of investments uncertain. The investment of approximately 800 billion won is at risk of being lost, and a chill is spreading throughout the edutech industry.
With the suspension of the certification event, new AIDT publishing plans have inevitably faced setbacks, leading to criticisms that this could even affect the survival of related companies.
On July 21st, in front of the National Assembly, AIDT publishers, the edutech industry, and field teachers who held a general rally opposing the downgrade of AIDT status expressed deep regret over this decision.
Meanwhile, since its introduction earlier this year, AIDT has undergone trial operations in schools during the first half of the year. Some schools attempted new educational methods through digital transformation and received positive responses, but they also faced various challenges such as lack of technical infrastructure, insufficient teacher training, and issues with content quality. In this situation, as it loses its status as a textbook and is demoted to educational material, new forms of application and operational plans must be sought from the second semester.

monarch@fnnews.com Kim Man-gi Reporter