Anthropic partners with Iceland to deploy Claude in schools nationwide

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Anthropic has confirmed a deal with the Nordic state of Iceland that could create a blueprint for how AI is rolled out in education systems across the globe.

The initiative will see the Claude large language model and other advanced AI tools made available to teachers across the country, from the capital of Reykjavik to remote, rural regions.

Iceland only has a population of just over 400,000, but despite -- or arguably because -- of its isolated location in the North Atlantic Ocean, it has gained a reputation as one of the most progressive countries in Europe when it comes to embracing new technologies.

The overarching focus of the tie-up is to see how AI can assist teachers in lesson preparation and instruction, while gauging what effect this has on student learning.

As part of this, teachers will gain access to Claude and be provided with training materials and a dedicated support network.

Claude will be used to perform administrative tasks as well as analyze a range of content, from complex text to mathematical problems, with the AI learning from each teacher's style and methodology.

A host of languages will be supported to make sure the learning environment is as inclusive as possible -- Icelandic will be one of these, as the authorities are keen to safeguard the mother tongue in a digital landscape where English has become dominant.

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Explaining the decision to introduce Claude to Iceland's schools, Gudmundur Ingi Kristinsson, minister of education and children, said in a statement: "Here we take the leap and embark on an ambitious project aimed at examining the use of artificial intelligence in various areas of education, with the needs of teachers as our guiding principle."

Anthropic's head of public sector Thiyagu Ramasamy added: "This initiative exemplifies how governments can harness AI to enhance public services while preserving their core values. Iceland is showing how nations can deploy AI practically and responsibly."

It is not clear how long the Icelandic pilot will last or the cost of the program, but Anthropic confirmed that it hoped it would act as a launchpad for other programs. "We look forward to bringing similar partnerships to more nations," it said.

OpenAI is getting in on the act, too, announcing a program in September to introduce ChatGPT to secondary schools in Greece.