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Dubai: As GEMS Education prepares to trial AI-powered “digital twins” of its teachers, one question is likely on every parent’s mind: will this come with an extra bill?
As reported by Gulf News on Tuesday, the UAE’s largest private school group is piloting the technology at GEMS School of Research & Innovation (SRI) in Dubai under a partnership with AI company Napster, with a working solution targeted before the end of 2026.
Gulf News put a set of follow-up questions to Baz Nijjar, senior vice-president for innovation, AI and futurism, and managing director of Intelligence 360 at GEMS Education, to find out what this will cost families, how it works, and what safeguards are in place. Here’s what he said.
Will students have to pay extra?
During the initial proof of concept at GEMS School of Research and Innovation, selected participating teachers and students will access the capability through a controlled school environment, rather than purchasing it individually.
For selected use cases, the school will provide access. Any future or extended access or additional funding model would be considered only after the educational value, safety and practical implementation have been evaluated.
Is this like home tuition by teacher’s AI avatar?
No, Nijjar said it shouldn’t be viewed as home tuition or as a replacement for a live teacher. It’s better understood as school-governed, on-demand learning support that could help a student revisit an explanation, practise a skill, prepare for a task or get initial feedback during and outside normal school hours. Teachers remain responsible for the learning design and the decisions that matter most.
How will this initiative work?
The AI avatar will be a controlled, teacher-authorised interface rather than an unrestricted digital replica of a teacher. With the teacher’s and school’s consent, it can be grounded in selected educational resources, explanations and approved subject content, letting students interact through video, voice or text. Its scope will be clearly defined, and teachers will be able to review, update, pause or adapt its use at any time.
What happens when a teacher leaves the school?
An avatar would operate within clear permissions covering the teacher’s likeness, voice, content and expertise, only where mutually approved — otherwise it would be an approved avatar that doesn’t necessarily replicate that teacher.
It would not automatically continue representing a teacher after they leave; it could be updated, withdrawn or deactivated, with any continued use requiring the appropriate consent and contractual permissions. GEMS said it will always retain the ability to pause or revoke access.
Won’t this mean more screen time?
“We do not want to introduce technology to increase screen use,” Nijjar said. Interactions will be short, purposeful and appropriate to the student’s age and the learning activity.
The proof of concept will look at suitable time limits and access windows, alongside usage monitoring, with teachers or authorised staff able to pause or withdraw access.
Could this eventually be used inside classrooms?
Classroom use may be evaluated too, but only in teacher-led scenarios such as simulations, demonstrations, guided practice, presentation rehearsal, approved multilingual explanations and access to curriculum resources.
It would not operate as an autonomous classroom teacher — the teacher stays responsible for directing the activity and responding to students.
What will these AI-supported lessons cover?
The initial work will focus on bounded, purposeful learning activities rather than recreating complete lessons, building towards an adaptive learning model once the avatar and content are within the guardrails and shown to support outcomes.
This could include guided practice, revision, formative feedback, communication and presentation development, reflection, goal-setting and access to approved curriculum resources. The exact subjects and use cases will be chosen with SRI educators during the design phase.
Which languages will be covered?
The platform can support multilingual interaction, but GEMS said it will validate each language before enabling it for student use.
English and Arabic are expected to be the most common, with other languages considered according to student needs and only after accuracy, age-appropriateness and safeguarding requirements have been assessed, in line with UAE and GEMS AI governance guidelines.
When will it begin at SRI, and other GEMS schools?
Co-design and development will begin with SRI as the first implementation and research environment, with the partnership targeting a working proof of concept and initial evaluation before the end of 2026.
Any wider rollout across GEMS schools will be phased and depend on evidence of educational value, safeguarding, privacy, teacher feedback and relevant regulatory requirements. A fixed date for deployment across all GEMS schools is still to be determined.
How will students and teachers benefit?
Students could get additional guided practice, explanations and formative feedback when a teacher isn’t immediately available.
For teachers, the technology could help extend access to frequently requested explanations and resources, freeing up more time for what Nijjar called the “high-value human aspects of education”: relationships, discussion, creativity, pastoral support and professional judgement.
What difference could this make day to day?
For students, it could mean getting trusted support when they need it rather than waiting for the next lesson to revisit a question. For teachers, it could cut the need to repeat routine explanations and help flag common areas of difficulty.
“The aim is not to add more technology to the school day, but to make support timelier and give teachers more capacity for meaningful interaction with students,” Nijjar said.
Are teachers concerned this could eventually replace them?
Nijjar said the teachers taking part are “excited to support this development and take ownership of the use cases and outcomes,” adding that the initiative “is designed to extend teachers, not replace them.”
He said education depends on human relationships, professional judgement, safeguarding and empathy that an AI avatar cannot replicate, and that teachers will be involved in designing, supervising and evaluating every use case. “The objective is to reduce repetitive demands and make trusted support more accessible, while keeping educators firmly at the centre,” he said.
Summing up the initiative, Nijjar said its success won’t be measured by how closely an avatar resembles a teacher, but by “whether the technology significantly improves learning within the established safety guardrails, provides students with trusted support and gives teachers more time for the human relationships and professional judgement at the heart of education.”
