AI Summary
5 min readSue Kim, CEO of Brilliant.org, launched a new AI tutor called Koji last week and watched it go viral—nearly five million views on X. The timing was terrible on paper: summer break had just started, and AI was getting booed off commencement stages. But the product resonated because it does something unusual: it makes you think. As Kim put it, "AI that makes you think is an incredibly popular idea." The response revealed something deeper about what parents and learners actually want from AI, and what they're afraid of losing.
The problem with how AI is used in education
Kim argues that the current wave of AI tools is making kids worse at thinking. "Everyone's seeing the data that our kids can't read or do math anymore," she says. "AI is making this worse." The typical AI product promises to do the thinking for you. Brilliant's new tutor, Koji, does the opposite. It is designed as a Socratic guide that stays on the page alongside the student, annotating, asking questions, and gradually pulling away visual scaffolding until the student can solve problems independently.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Show Open & VC Bad Behavior Tease** - Jason opens with a teaser about VC bad behavior stories trending on Twitter, then introduces the main guest.
- 2 (03:07) **Introducing Sue Kim, CEO of Brilliant.org** - Jason welcomes Sue Kim back to the show, recalling her original company All Tuition and the pivot to Brilliant.
- 3 (06:55) **Brilliant's Mission & The "AI That Makes You Think" Launch** - Sue describes Brilliant's mission to put a world-class tutor in every home and the viral launch of their new AI tutor.
- 4 (10:28) **Brilliant's Core: Problem Solving vs. Knowledge** - Sue explains the pedagogical difference between Brilliant and traditional school math.
- 5 (14:33) **Strategic Decisions: Consumer vs. School & Premium Pricing** - Jason asks about two key strategic choices: going direct-to-consumer instead of B2B schools, and premium pricing.
- 6 (18:53) **The AI Tutor Demo: Koji in Action** - Sue shares her screen to demo the new AI tutor, Koji, within a quadratic equations lesson.
- 7 (32:03) **How Brilliant Built Koji: Not Just a Wrapper** - Jason asks how much of Koji is custom-built vs. a wrapper on a frontier model.
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Show Notes
The AI Tutor That Makes Kids Actually Think | E2298
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Today’s show:
*Schools teach kids to memorize formulas. AI helps them skip thinking entirely. Brilliant founder Sue Khim joins TWiST to tell us how her new AI tutor, Koji, uses the Socratic Method to help students solve complex problems on their own. Find out why she says “People aren’t anti-AI. They’re anti-being replaced and anti-slop.”
PLUS Jason’s take on the VC horror stories going around X… and his own anecdote about the tenacity and passion of legendary investor John Doerr.
Guest:
Sue Khim on X: https://x.com/suekhim
Brilliant: https://brilliant.org/
Viral Koji launch video: https://x.com/suekhim/status/2060378988606878147
Relevant Links:
Viral Greg Isenberg post about VCs: https://x.com/gregisenberg/status/2061794787825479818
Travis Kalanick’s story: https://x.com/travisk/status/2062224472426365045
Matthew Prince’s stories: https://x.com/eastdakota/status/2062860530360959273
John Doerr on X: https://x.com/johndoerr
Roelof Botha on X: https://x.com/roelofbotha
Michael Moritz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmoritz/
Mohr Davidow Ventures: https://mdv.com/
Jason’s book “Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups”: https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Invest-Technology-Startups-Timeless-Investor/dp/0062560700
Timestamps:
0:00 Sue Khim's Alltuition origin story
1:41 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!
4:10 B
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