[AI Revolution](195) What Happens When AI Is Applied to Education... You’ll Know If You Let It Handle Descriptive Grading

[Interview] Cho Hyungoo, CEO of CT
From Teacher to AI Startup CEO
Aggressive Adoption of AI Agents... "Performance Improvement"

"Technology can accelerate learning."

On April 19, in an interview with The Asia Business Daily, Cho Hyungoo, CEO of edtech startup CT, emphasized, "Artificial intelligence (AI) will expand the realm of learning." He predicted that educational programs could be transformed not only to support teachers' work but also to foster students' critical thinking abilities.

Cho Hyungu, CEO of CT, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the office on Seolleung-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Cho Yongjun

CEO Cho founded CT in 2012, drawing on his experience as an elementary school teacher. In his class, there were students with a wide range of backgrounds and abilities, including North Korean defectors and students with disabilities, making it challenging to cater to each student's needs. Motivated by a desire to solve such problems in public education through technology, he decided to start a business. The journey was not easy from the start, as he needed a developer to co-found the company. While attending KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), Cho searched for someone interested in developing education-related technology. He said, "Every weekend, I went to the KAIST dormitories to persuade people that I wanted to address these issues in education." He added, "Including co-founders with master's and doctoral degrees in computer science from KAIST, over 80% of our workforce are developers. We are a company focused on technology."

AI Free from Fairness Controversy Handles Descriptive Grading... "Trust Issues Remain a Barrier"

Cho Hyungoo, CEO of CT, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the office on Seolleung-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Cho Yongjun

CT has built three platforms aligned with the 'taxonomy of educational objectives' by American educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom. First, 'Learning' covers memory and understanding, providing personalized education based on over a decade of accumulated learning data. Another platform, 'Sandbox,' focuses on application and analysis, offering an environment where students can apply knowledge through generative AI models, while also controlling for hallucinations and harmful content. There is also 'Writing,' designed for evaluation and creation, which supports teachers with descriptive assessment and grading, often considered the most challenging part of teaching.

Cho emphasized that Writing will bring innovation to the educational field. Since AI can grade free from fairness controversies, teachers can confidently choose descriptive exams that develop students' critical thinking skills, moving beyond simple multiple-choice or short-answer tests. Cho said, "If AI provides reliable standards, students can take exams that require deep thinking instead of rote memorization. When AI grades and gives feedback, teachers can review the content and make the final decision."

The main barrier CT faced when building its platforms was the issue of 'trust.' Teachers were hesitant to actively introduce technologies like AI into the classroom. Cho said, "What we chose to build trust with teachers was continuous feedback and bold implementation," adding, "As we accumulated interviews and feedback and demonstrated new test results, trust increased." He also proudly stated, "Unlike other new edtech startups, the data and trust we have built up over a long period in the public education market are unique assets of our company."

CT Cuts Costs with AI Agents... "Accelerating Global Expansion"

Cho Hyungoo, CEO of CT, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the office on Seolleung-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Cho Yongjun

CT is also a startup that actively adopts AI technology internally. In March last year, the AI digital textbooks that were scheduled for rollout were effectively withdrawn from educational sites. CT, which had been preparing for this business, inevitably suffered a significant blow. To overcome this crisis, CEO Cho turned to AI assistants (agents).

Cho reported that though the workforce dropped from 100 to 40 early last year, work efficiency has remained steady. Personnel expenses and other costs have decreased by 60% compared to the previous year, while sales increased by 50% over the same period. Cho stated, "I can now handle HR, recruitment, and finance work that used to require nine people, all by myself," and added, "Without AI agents, we could not have achieved these results."

Currently, Cho is working to implement CT's platform in educational settings worldwide. This year, the company is actively expanding into global markets, including Taiwan, Thailand, and Japan. Cho explained, "CT's platforms, Sandbox and Writing, provide universally needed tools regardless of each country’s curriculum," adding, "We also offer solutions that can be immediately applied to the International Baccalaureate program, which places a strong emphasis on descriptive assessment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.