Open Roles
Synthesis Tutor is built on research by DARPA—the government agency behind GPS, the Internet, and early self-driving cars.
DARPA sought to create a digital learning system as good as the classroom, but they accidentally made something far better. In fact, their average student performed better than 99.99% of students who learned in a classroom.
But the DARPA students didn’t only outperform the classroom, they also outperformed 99.9% of Navy technicians with an average of ten years of experience. This shows us that there is a way to teach concepts—even advanced concepts—in a way that’s far more efficient and empowering.
To achieve those results, the DARPA team created software that mimicked the way experts tutored their students. Unlike human tutors, software never gets tired, frustrated, or impatient. It never has an off-day or fumbles an explanation. If a student misunderstands a concept, the digital tutor always provides just the right guidance. This, it turns out, is critical.
Most importantly, the students felt like they were learning from a real person. The tutor was digital, but it had soul. Its care, intentionality, encouragement, and patients built unbreakable trust with students. They relied upon the digital tutor, shared their struggles, and treated it like you’d treat your favorite teacher. It’s hard to believe, but the digital tutor created a bond with the students—a bond that acted like fuel for unimaginably deep, fast, and joyful learning.
To test its effectiveness, DARPA set up a competition between three groups:
- Navy technicians with an average of 10 years of experience
- Students who learned in a classroom for 36 weeks
- Students who learned with the DARPA digital tutor for 16 weeks
The DARPA students outperformed both groups by huge margins. In only 16 weeks, they were better than 99.9% of Navy technicians and 99.99% of classroom students.
No other way of learning has ever achieved anything close to these results.
If you want to get close to the DARPA results, you’ll need to hire a world-class tutor to work with your child one-on-one. But even then, research shows those students won’t perform as well as the DARPA program.
Simply put, the DARPA program is the greatest way to learn in the history of humanity. It’s a big statement—we know. But it’s inexpensive to try it and to quickly discover this for yourself.
Synthesis partnered with the team that created the original DARPA program. We expanded upon their research, tailor-made a platform for kids ages 7-10, and extended what they achieved with modern AI tools.
For the first time, any kid with an internet connection can receive the best education in the world—no matter where they are.
If you’d like to dig deeper, you can read this study conducted by the Institute for Defense Analysis.
Or check out this helpful summary of the results.