Will AI affect tutors and their bookings?

It's Alex, co-founder of LanguaTalk. 👋🏻

Over the last year, I've received messages from several tutors who are worried about a decrease in bookings. They sometimes suspect that learners may be using AI instead of booking lessons.

I understand this concern, and want to give you my perspective.

Since mid 2023, we've had slightly fewer sign ups for tutoring than we had in the year prior. We attribute this to a mix of things, primarily:

• Increased competition - the biggest platform pay silly amounts to show at the top of Google
• Inflation and pressure from the increased cost of living
• Tutors increasing their prices (often in response to a higher cost of living)

Whilst it's possible that AI is having some impact, in the case of Langua (our AI platform), it is highly unlikely to be having a negative impact. We launched Langua's conversational AI in 2024, way after bookings dropped. And Langua attracts thousands of new users every month. Some of them go on to book a tutor, either in addition to, or instead of, using AI.

In fact, in October, a record number of tutoring sessions were given on LanguaTalk.

In terms of AI competing with tutors, we make clear that AI is not a 'tutor' and cannot offer anything close to what a talented tutor can offer.

Of course, there are lots of other companies that constantly refer to their product as an 'AI tutor' and the claims may be leading certain learners to sign up instead of booking a tutor.

But they cannot come close to offering what you give your students!

As we covered inflation earlier, here's my advice on pricing. If you are charging more than $25 or $30 per session, be aware that your prices will be too high for the majority of learners. Of course, we want you to earn as much as possible, so I'm not saying: you should lower your prices. But you may want to experiment, as sometimes you can earn more by charging 20% less (if it means you get significantly more bookings). Remember, you're not only competing with tutors on our site, but also tutors on bigger sites that tend to focus more on highlighting the cheapest tutors. Remember that on LanguaTalk, commission and customer's payment processing fees are added on top of the rate you set, rather than being taken out of it.

If you want general suggestions for maximising your success as an online tutor, feel free to read this help article.

I wish you the best of luck in increasing your bookings over the years to come. If you have any further concerns of feedback, please don't hesitate to contact me.