MaturAI: AI chatbot prepares Italian students for final exams

Professor Ottavio Di Paolo of Rome's Istituto Giovanni Paolo II has partnered with former student Luigi Pedace, founder of Convergent, to launch MaturAI, an AI-powered chatbot designed to help students prepare for Italy's Maturità exam. The system uses a virtual character that simulates an examiner, asking questions and providing responses. Initially developed for corporate training, the chatbot will be piloted with students taking the 2024 Maturità at the institute, with plans to expand to other schools and universities by 2025. Di Paolo describes AI as a "key to democratizing access to knowledge, breaking down geographic and economic barriers." However, the article critically notes that generative AI systems like ChatGPT do not understand or reason; they merely reproduce patterns from training data, often producing historical or scientific inaccuracies. Philosopher Francesco D'Isa's recent book is cited to explain that AI is limited by its datasets and cannot be universally flexible without costly custom training. Pedace acknowledges that "improper use of any technology can be harmful" but argues schools must adapt and expose students to new digital tools. The article concludes that the real issue is not that students cheat with AI, but that AI like ChatGPT is unreliable for homework, producing errors rather than genuine learning.