Judit Polgar Warns About AI in Education

Judit Polgar, the greatest female chess grandmaster, recently spoke about the impact of AI on education, warning that it's causing confusion and insecurity among teachers.

She became the youngest grandmaster of all time at 15, breaking Bobby Fischer's record, and was rated above all players in her age group except Demis Hassabis, now the head of Google DeepMind.

Her story is featured in the documentary *Queen of Chess*, which premiered at Sundance and entered Netflix's global Top 10.

Polgar's experience with chess engines, which began to dominate the game in the 1990s, has given her a unique perspective on the impact of AI on human expertise.

She felt the fear and loss of trust when she realized that everyone was using chess engines, and she sees the same thing happening now in classrooms.

Polgar believes that teachers are at a crossroads, struggling to trust AI and feeling insecure about their role in the education system.

She thinks they need to be extremely strong mentally to navigate this transformation, which goes deeper than just their professional lives.

And she's not alone in her concerns, as many educators are worried about the impact of AI on their jobs and the quality of education.

But Polgar's warning is not just about the negative consequences of AI, it's also about the need for educators to adapt and find new ways to work with technology.

She remembers a game she lost after trusting a chess engine, which told her she was winning, but her instinct was to take a draw.

So who should you trust, she asks, the computer or your own instinct?

Polgar's story is a reminder that AI is not just a tool, but a reflection of our own strengths and weaknesses.

As she looks back on her career, she realizes that the transformation of chess by AI was just the beginning of a much larger change in the way we think about human expertise.

And now, as AI begins to reshape the education system, Polgar's warning is a call to action for educators to be aware of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

The documentary *Queen of Chess* premiered at Sundance on January 2026 and entered Netflix's global Top 10 on February 6, 2026, just days after its release.

Polgar's concerns about AI in education are not just theoretical, they're based on her own experience and her observation of the impact of technology on the game of chess.

She sees the same fear and insecurity among teachers that she felt when she was at the height of her career, and she believes that it's essential to address these concerns and find a way to work with AI that enhances human expertise rather than replacing it.