Sal Khan stated that Khanmigo has been a non-event for many students who did not use the AI tutor after its 2022 rollout citing insufficient motivation and prerequisite knowledge to engage with the tool (Chalkbeat, April 2026). Khan compared the chatbot to an instructor sitting in the back of a classroom waiting for voluntary requests for help (Chalkbeat, April 2026). In his 2024 book Brave New Words Khan initially described early GPT-4 access from OpenAI as poised to deliver the largest positive transformation in education history (Khan, Brave New Words, 2024).

Khan's 2023 TED Talk forecasted AI personal tutors could elevate average students to standout academic performance referencing Bloom's 1984 2 Sigma study on one-to-one tutoring (TED, 2023; Bloom, Educational Researcher, 1984). Hobart High School teacher Kristen Musall reported students found Khanmigo frustrating due to errors and its refusal to supply direct answers leading her to discontinue classroom use (Chalkbeat, April 2026). Musall observed greater administrator enthusiasm than teacher adoption at the Indiana district (Chalkbeat, April 2026).

A 2023 Pew Research Center survey documented that a majority of U.S. teens consider AI-powered cheating at least somewhat common in their schools (Pew Research Center, December 2023). Khan told Chalkbeat he now positions AI as one component of solutions rather than a standalone fix for learning gains (Chalkbeat, April 2026). Earlier edtech deployments showed parallel patterns of limited uptake when tools required student initiative without addressing engagement barriers.