The EditAI Journey - “AI Cheating Crisis” Is a Design Problem
- Krzysztof Kosman
- Jun 9
- 3 min read
What if the biggest threat to education isn’t AI — but boredom?
In the latest episode of edtech dots, I had the pleasure of speaking with Kristina Jonkuvienė and Kęstutis Jovaišas, co-founders of EditAI, one of the most thoughtful and purpose-driven edtech startups in Europe.
The question we explore together is deceptively simple:
Can artificial intelligence actually make learning more human?
Before ChatGPT, There Was Slideware
Kristina and Kęstutis didn’t wait for AI to go mainstream. Before ChatGPT became the talk of every teachers' lounge, they were already prototyping ideas for personalized lesson plans — by hand.
They visited over 400 schools across Europe, listening closely to teachers, observing classrooms, and manually crafting lesson materials that would later become the model for what EditAI now generates automatically. Their earliest prototype wasn’t a product. It was a PDF. And yet teachers responded with curiosity and excitement.
This wasn’t a classic startup story. It was a story of empathy first, technology second.
“We built the first outputs manually. One month of work for a single lesson. Then ChatGPT arrived — and everything changed,” Kęstutis recalled.
The “AI Cheating Crisis” Is a Design Problem
One of the most honest parts of our conversation was about the so-called AI cheating crisis. Kristina and Kęstutis don’t see students using ChatGPT as a sign of decay — but rather a signal that the current system is misaligned with student motivation.
“When kids don’t find value in what they’re asked to do, they optimize it. That’s not cheating — it’s a rational response,” said Kęstutis.
And he’s right. If assessments feel meaningless, students will do the minimum. If tasks feel disconnected from real life, they will turn to faster, easier methods to get them done. AI just removes the friction — it doesn’t create the desire to skip the task.
Toward a More Relevant Education
So what’s the solution? According to Kristina and Kęstutis, it’s not banning AI. It’s rethinking what learning feels like.
EditAI helps teachers generate lesson plans that align with national curricula — but connect the content to real-world interests. Chemistry through sports. Biology through music. History through personal storytelling. This approach doesn’t reject traditional learning objectives — it recontextualizes them.
“When kids are engaged, they don’t ask why they’re learning something. They just do it,” Kęstutis noted. “The question ‘why?’ is a symptom of disengagement.”
Helping Teachers, Not Replacing Them
There’s a lot of fear that AI will replace educators. But the team at EditAI is grounded in a different belief: that teachers are irreplaceable — and deeply overwhelmed.
Their mission is to support teachers with tools that save time, reduce repetitive work, and help them focus on connection and creativity. Not by telling teachers how to teach, but by listening to their real needs and co-creating the product alongside them.
“We didn’t ship anything without teacher feedback,” Kristina emphasized. “Every new version is based on real classroom input.”
They’re currently on version 5. Version 6 is coming this fall. Version 7 in January. Their roadmap isn’t driven by investor pressure — it’s driven by the needs of real classrooms.
AI: Drug or Poison?
The most powerful metaphor in the episode came from Kristina:
“With every AI model, you can create a drug or a poison. It’s not about the algorithm — it’s about how we use it.”
It’s a call for responsibility — not fear. For critical thinking — not panic. And for designing tools that respect the intelligence of both students and educators.
So, Can AI Make Students Love Learning Again?
Not on its own. But in the hands of educators who understand its strengths — and its limits — it just might.
If we use AI to make learning more relevant, more personalized, and more joyful, then yes — we might just see a generation of students stop asking “Why are we learning this?” and start asking “What can I explore next?”
That’s the future EditAI is working toward.
And it starts with listening.
🎧 Listen to the full episode of EdTech Dots Podcast
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