Estonia is no stranger to embracing emerging technology. In the 1990s, the country launched the highly successful Tiigrihüpe (Tiger Leap) program, which brought modern information and communication technology, internet access, and digital literacy training to classrooms. It was developed according to the understanding that by integrating new technologies into education, Estonia could prepare its citizens to navigate a rapidly evolving digital world and build a more resilient, future-oriented workforce.
No time to waste
In response to TI-Hüpe, which was announced in February 2025 and launched just months later in September 2025, many have asked: why the rush?
TI-Hüpe’s goal is to ensure that Estonian students and teachers can use AI responsibly, reframing it as a tool that encourages deep learning rather than one that bypasses it altogether. It aims to achieve this by offering students and teachers customized AI tools, along with ongoing training and support for both teachers and parents.
To TI-Hüpe’s CEO, Ivo Visak, the “AI leap” has already happened for Estonian students. “Ninety-five percent of [secondary school] students use AI, some quite excessively,” he told Eesti Elu. “For them, it’s already a go-to tool for getting things done. But this also means that they’ve delegated their thinking almost entirely to the machine. That’s something our education system cannot afford to allow. The urgency is real. We have to respond with intention and structure; the education system needs an intervention,” he added.
Taking inspiration from Tiigrihüpe, TI-Hüpe’s goal is to ensure that Estonian students and teachers can use AI responsibly, reframing it as a tool that encourages deep learning rather than one that bypasses it altogether. It aims to achieve this by offering students and teachers customized AI tools, along with ongoing training and support for both teachers and parents.
AI for teachers
Teachers received access to ChatGPT Plus in August 2025, with the autonomy on how to use them in class. But Visak says that “the bubble will have to burst before these tools reach their true potential.” Once it does, he envisions a future where AI supports teachers behind the scenes, which might track learning patterns, highlight areas where students struggle, or manage administrative tasks, allowing teachers to spend more time on meaningful student interaction and engagement.
Visak emphasizes that the evolution of these tools will depend on broader societal norms and regulations. The goal, he says, is to harness AI in ways that align with democratic values and promote genuine learning.
But the technology isn’t quite there yet. For now, some teachers are using AI only as a supplementary aid. Martin Saar, a chemistry teacher at Tallinn-based high schools Gustav Adolfi Gümnaasium and Tallinna Reaalkool, told Eesti Elu that he’s using it to diversify his example problems and questions—but they’re not perfect. “If I ask for a full lesson plan, the quality is far below my own. I’ve been teaching for eighteen years; I know my students’ usual mistakes and what they’re interested in,” he said.
In late August 2025, teachers were invited to attend seminars showcasing practical ways to use AI in the classroom. Ongoing training now continues through professional learning communities (PLCs)—collaborative groups where teachers share strategies for using AI. Each school aims to have two PLC leaders, often teachers or IT specialists, who receive advanced training and pass on their knowledge to colleagues. Subject-specific teaching materials are also being developed for areas including math, language, music, history, and social sciences, and are expected to take shape in December 2025 or January 2026.
AI for students
Students will also receive customized versions of ChatGPT and Gemini. Importantly, these are fundamentally different from the versions many use at home. Dubbed “Socratic” models of AI by Visak, these tools are built to guide students to solutions through a process of inquiry, rather than providing them instantly. “I think one of the main points is that we’re not trying to compete with the tools students are already using at home—that would be a pointless effort,” he said.
In doing so, the program tackles significant challenges in education: first, sustaining students’ motivation to learn during a time when information is instantly accessible, and second, fostering motivation in a system structured around test scores, where results are often rewarded over genuine understanding. “Why would a student choose a tool that helps them learn, when there’s another tool that just gives them the answer instantly?” Visak asked. “That’s a core pedagogical dilemma…The question of motivation is more critical than ever in the age of AI. That’s why changes are needed.”
Saar voiced similar concerns, saying that AI in the classroom might increase the gaps in student performance. “Students who are motivated to learn will use AI much more efficiently than those who aren’t or just want the answer. What we saw during COVID with online learning was that some students got even higher results than usual, while others got lost. I’m afraid a similar thing might happen if we don’t emphasize the importance of why and how you learn,” he said.
Estonian LLMs: up to par?
In partnership with Google, OpenAI, and the Estonian Language Institute, TI-Hüpe is also focused on improving how AI tools handle the Estonian language. “Right now, Estonian is represented at a ‘good enough’ level,” said Visak. “But the problem with ‘good enough’ is that it often misses important cultural and linguistic nuances, shaping understanding in subtle yet significant ways. The cultural context that students receive when using AI in Estonian is often shaped by Silicon Valley’s norms, rather than our own,” he added.
Legal restrictions, specifically regulations governing the handling and protection of minors' data, have delayed the rollout of these tools for students. To ensure compliance, TI-Hüpe is working with the Estonian Parliament to draft changes to the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act.
Another concern with implementing AI in its current state is that it is occasionally susceptible to providing inaccurate (or entirely fabricated) information—phenomena known as “hallucinations.”
But this is part of the problem that TI-Hüpe is trying to address. Part of the program’s goal is to teach students how to critically and productively engage with these tools, however flawed they may be, in a world where they are becoming increasingly normalized. The education system cannot ignore AI, nor wait for it to reach perfection before implementing it, Visak says, because students are already using it in harmful ways. Instead, it must pedagogically ground these tools to reshape how students use and think of AI, and how they approach learning more generally.
Legal restrictions, specifically regulations governing the handling and protection of minors' data, have delayed the rollout of these tools for students. To ensure compliance, TI-Hüpe is working with the Estonian Parliament to draft changes to the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act. Students are expected to receive AI tools in November 2025.
Quotes have been edited for clarity and length.
This article was written by Natalie Jenkins as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.
