What happens when intelligence becomes as cheap and accessible as electricity?

What happens when intelligence becomes as cheap and accessible as electricity?

That’s the provocative question posed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who recently stated, “The cost of intelligence may soon be no more than electricity” (Times of India, 2025). In just a few words, Altman summarized a seismic shift in how we think about knowledge, education, and the future of learning—not just in Silicon Valley or Shanghai, but in places like Dhaka, Bogura, and Barisal.

We are entering an era where superintelligent AI systems will serve as always-on, hyper-personalized tutors, problem-solvers, and co-creators. As the cost of deploying such intelligence plummets, the old hierarchies of access to knowledge—defined by wealth, geography, or privilege—may begin to dissolve. But only if we act strategically.

From Scarcity to Abundance: The Intelligence Revolution

Until now, knowledge and intelligence were expensive commodities. Education required years of institutional learning, high tuition, trained teachers, and vast infrastructure. In contrast, superintelligent AI systems—trained on billions of pages of text and capable of reasoning, teaching, and adapting—require little more than a power source and an internet connection.

As Altman noted, the marginal cost of running such systems is trending towards that of electricity. Imagine a rural student in Kurigram or a garment worker in Gazipur accessing world-class learning from a solar-powered tablet powered by an AI tutor that speaks fluent Bangla. That’s no longer science fiction. It’s a near-future possibility.

The AI Tutor: Learning Redefined

Today’s AI-powered education tools are not static repositories of information. They’re dynamic, interactive, and emotionally responsive.

Khan Academy’s GPT-based tool, Khanmigo, can already hold Socratic conversations with students, adapting to their pace, confusion, and confidence. In India, Project DigiGuru deployed multilingual AI tutors in underprivileged areas and saw a 38% improvement in STEM test scores in just one year (NITI Aayog, 2025).

In Bangladesh, platforms like 10 Minute School and Shikho are already exploring AI integrations to personalize and scale learning. Imagine what’s possible when the cost barrier vanishes.

Schools, Teachers, and Degrees: What Changes?

Education is not just about content delivery. It’s about mentorship, character formation, and human connection. AI cannot replace the teacher’s emotional intelligence—but it can offload their administrative burden, assess students in real-time, and offer one-on-one support to every child.

Meanwhile, credentialing will shift. Already, employers like Google are prioritizing AI-era skills over traditional degrees. Their Career Certificate program now rivals Ivy League diplomas in hiring metrics for technical roles (Google Research, 2025).

This shift demands a rethinking of our national curriculum, which remains theory-heavy and exam-oriented. It’s time to move toward skills, creativity, and collaboration with machines.

Bangladesh: A Learning Leapfrog?

For Bangladesh, the promise of AI in education is transformative—if leveraged wisely. We have a large youth population, high mobile penetration, and increasing investments in digital infrastructure. Yet, our rural-urban education gap, under-resourced teachers, and outdated curricula limit our potential.

Here’s what we can do:

Launch a National AI Learning Framework to introduce digital fluency, prompt literacy, and AI ethics from secondary school onwards.

Invest in localized AI tools that understand Bangla, Chittagonian, and other dialects.

Train teachers as AI-augmented mentors, not sidelined observers.

Ensure equity in access, so AI doesn’t widen the education gap.

Already, initiatives like bKash’s digital literacy module for its agent network—with potential AI support—show how corporate platforms can become vectors for mass learning.

The Risks of Superintelligent Learning

Of course, not everything is rosy. Over-dependence on AI can weaken critical thinking. AI hallucinations (confidently wrong answers) may mislead students. And without AI literacy, users may be unable to distinguish truth from generated fiction.

Moreover, there’s a risk that elite schools will integrate AI faster, creating a new class divide—not of intelligence, but of AI fluency.

The Future: Learning to Collaborate with Machines

In the age of superintelligence, the most valuable learners will not be those who memorize best—but those who collaborate best. Education must teach not just what to learn, but how to work with AI. This includes:

Prompt engineering and feedback skills

AI critique and verification techniques

Ethics, empathy, and human judgment

As Amy Webb from the Future Today Institute puts it, “The most important education policy is also the most important economic policy: AI readiness” (Webb, 2025).

Conclusion: Intelligence as a Public Utility

In this new era, intelligence is not a finite good; it is infrastructure. The question for Bangladesh is: will we treat AI-enabled learning as a national priority, or as a private luxury?

If we build the right partnerships, policies, and platforms, we can ensure that every child in Bangladesh—whether in Dhaka or Dinajpur—has access to a personal tutor more brilliant than any textbook, and more available than any school day.

The learning revolution isn’t coming. It’s already here. We just need to plug in.

References (Harvard Style)

Altman, S. (2025) The cost of intelligence may soon be no more than electricity. Times of India. Available at: https://share.google/dcpqVKcyWAWfSJ585

Google Research (2025) Career Certificate Job Impact Report. Available at: https://grow.google/certificates

Khan Academy (2024) Khanmigo: Your AI-powered Learning Coach. Available at: https://www.khanacademy.org/khan-labs

NITI Aayog (2025) Annual EdTech Evaluation Report. Government of India.

Webb, A. (2025) The Year in Tech: 2025. Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org

bKash (2025) Governance Report: Financial Literacy and AI Pilot Programs, Dhaka: bKash Limited.