Carly Quellman, aka Carly Que, is a multimedia strategist and storyteller at the intersection of technology and the humanities, investigating how perspective can enhance, rather than overstimulate, the world. She can be found online and near the closest south-facing window in Los Angeles.
Lately I've been tracking and highlighting companies doing something interesting in support of various cultures, their history and how different types of education shape the world.
After spending a good chunk of time navigating language platforms that supported other cultures but lacked AI, or AI-specific language platforms that weren't inclusive, I found Kahoot, a game-based learning platform across science, history, geography, English and math, where users can create and share those findings throughout classrooms, workplaces or even personally with friends.
AI has been gaining ground in education, beyond students and teachers using it ad hoc. California, for instance, partnering with Big Tech companies to boost AI training and resources. Google's Gemini-powered NotebookLM is catching on for organizing and thinking through notes and research. OpenAI has added a study mode in ChatGPT that uses a Socratic method to engage students and life-long learners.
I see this as the beginning of drastic changes for the education system -- changes that may help unveil different thinking styles, but potentially at the cost of human-to-human discourse.
Kahoot started out in 2006 as a project of Morten Versvik, a university student in Norway, and his professor Alf Inge Wang, who created an early prototype for what would eventually become Kahoot, the company, founded in 2012.
The app's mission is to make learning awesome and to transform education into a more emotional and inclusive space. I was immediately impressed with the range of courses and content available beyond Western culture -- specifically African studies and a module centered on Black history.
With more thann 12 billion users across 200 countries since 2013, it's not surprising that the company launched AI features throughout its product suite in 2023 in response to growing demand and to meet accessibility needs.
According to Sean D'Arcy, chief solutions officer at Kahoot, the Kahoot AI Generator -- which can instantly create interactive learning experiences from a topic, document, website or video link -- particularly helps teachers cut their lesson prep time while making learning more engaging and personalized. This allows educators to spend less time creating content and more time with their students.
Businesses are also using Kahoot's AI tools to transform "dry" employee training materials into engaging learning experiences, as a part of a goal to upskill future work, D'Arcy said. In a partnership with Microsoft, those tools are being used to auto-create quizzes and presentations, highlight a brainstorming feature, and supercharge search results with a text-to-speech feature for creating content, also known as "kahoots."
Visual use cases featuring Kahoot!'s AI-powered features can be found here.
Kahoot is available across desktop and mobile apps -- iOS and Android -- with AI helping out in different ways depending on the platform of choice. I found it easier to navigate the app, detailed below. Additionally, some AI tools require paid plans (between $4/month for individuals and $15/month for small teams). Kahoot also offers 50% off for nonprofits and NGOs.
Once you've created an account with Google, Microsoft, Apple, or Clever, open the app and tap the Create button. There you can enter the topic of choices into the AI-assisted search bar across categories like Quiz, Presentation, Micro Lesson, Test and Vocab Review. I focused on Nigerian history over the past 20 years built into a Micro Lesson.You can also use AI to create flashcards via its text-to-speech AI feature, or have it analyze your PDF upload or URL and create something new.
In my case, I wanted to create a multiple-choice quiz so I uploaded a curatorial pitch deck presentation to generate flashcards with the help of AI. I received a 19 multiple-choice question quiz in response to three pages of my deck. Impressive.
You have autonomy to review and edit as needed, and select the specific questions -- and/or with edited answers -- to add to your kahoot. I wasn't a fan of the AI-assisted imagery for my topic, as it didn't match the topic of Black history and creativity, but I appreciated the assistance with getting started.
Some other ways to use Kahoot's AI features are its AI-powered study recommendations based on what you explore on the platform, or instant translations. (Unfortunately, the platform isn't accessible in African languages.)
I solely focused on the AI features throughout Kahoot, but that's a small sample of the different modules and programs you can access on the platform. I couldn't help but notice Kahoot's language app, Drops, is incredibly inclusive as well. It contains 50 language offerings, and also boasts AI features -- a nice solution for translation tools.
The Kahoot team told me they're testing AI-driven conversational gameplay, which is "guided, low-stress dialogues where learners can practice speaking in context." This allows the company to support less commonly taught languages -- like those that make up the African diaspora -- while creating a high-quality practice available to everyone.
For case studies and information on how to use Kahoot, head to its blog. And as always, review AI-generated content for accuracy before using.
Kahoot processes personal data to provide features and functionalities -- like tracking progress and to comply with legal obligations. The platform does not use personal data for targeted advertising or to sell information to third parties. (I'd add having multiple paid tiers for profit makes this an easier choice versus a tradeoff for monetary gain.)
Personal information collected is separated by use. So first, there's account-level data like name, email, contact details, usernames, and payment info. Then there's user activity data, like quiz participation or answers -- like with the multiple choice questions I created. (This is also why I was particular about which slides of my IP I chose to upload).
Frederik Cordes, chief product officer at Drops by Kahoot, said that the company complies fully with GDPR and ensures any third-party AI models used meet high standards around data ethics, safety and bias mitigation because they believe "learners should always know how their data is used -- and they should always be in control."
On that note, Kahoot was awarded the 1EdTech Data Privacy Certification in 2024 and the Common Sense Privacy Seal in 2025, which less than 10% of companies are awarded, and which shows that they are abiding by global standard protections.
With the reputation that Kahoot has, and the robust nature of its content library, I see the platform effective across diverse settings -- whether that's a high school history class or senior citizens learning about the cultural figures from countries other than their own.
Alongside its acquisition of Drops in 2020, and the beginning of AI-powered features in 2023, I envision Kahoot as a platform that integrates enhancements to support a global community of language and culture learners. From the perspective of a visual learner with a very short attention span (me), I can say that I would use Kahoot again.
