Learning Requires Companionship: Why Connection Powers Growth in the Age of AI

This post is decided to Mrs. Susan Bigelow, my 9th grade English teacher. I never had the chance to tell her how much she's inspired me over the years, by simply believing in me.

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I’ve been sitting with a simple idea. Learning doesn’t happen alone.

We often imagine the path to mastery as a solo pursuit. Push harder. Go deeper. Do it yourself. But in my experience, and in what the research tells us, real learning is deeply relational. It requires companionship. Someone or something to walk with us, to help us process what we’re hearing, seeing, and experiencing.

Sometimes that companion is a teacher. Sometimes it’s a parent, a mentor, or a peer. And in this new era, it may even be AI.

But it’s never just us.

One of the most powerful frameworks in education, Social Cognitive Theory, explains this well. For someone to succeed as a learner, they need three things. First, they need to believe they can succeed. Second, they need to be able to take intentional action toward a goal. And third, they need an environment that supports their growth.

That’s why learning is not just about information. It’s about transformation. It’s about how we think, how we act, and how we make sense of the world around us. And that kind of transformation doesn’t happen in silence. It happens through connection, reflection, and encouragement.

It happens with companionship.

When my daughter, who has Down syndrome, is fully included in a learning environment, something powerful happens. Not just to her, but to everyone around her. People grow through her presence. They become more empathetic. More patient. More curious. More human. Inclusion is not only beneficial to those being included. It strengthens the entire community.

Now that AI is advancing at a pace none of us could have predicted, we are standing at a critical intersection. We can either design tools that isolate learners, or we can build experiences that mirror how humans actually grow. Through feedback. Through trust. Through shared experiences.

AI has the potential to become a learning companion. Not a substitute for human connection, but a presence that adapts and responds to the learner in real time. When designed thoughtfully, it can support growth without replacing the relational moments that define education.

But we have to stay grounded in what we know about learning. We have to remember that even the most intelligent technology cannot replace the feeling of being seen. Of being believed in. Of being understood.

In the end, what we all need is the same thing we have always needed. Someone or something to learn with. A presence that listens. A presence that reflects. A presence that brings out the best in us.

That is how real learning happens. That is how we grow. That is how we become who we are meant to be.