When Colin Kaepernick launched his AI venture, Lumi Story, last year, it was unclear what to expect. After all, this is the guy who challenged the status quo while balling out in the big league.
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Many were impressed and intrigued to see Kaepernick launch an AI-powered storytelling platform to help comics and creators express themselves better. Now, nearly a year after Lumi’s launch for the creative community, the former 49ers star is widening its scope, entering the education sector.
The controversial former player appeared recently as a panelist on a session discussing the utility of AI in education. During his talk, Kaepernick made it clear that his next objective with Lumi Story is to bridge the gap between students and educational stakeholders.
“We are very focused on, holistically, how do we help your district and help your schools,” Kaepernick said. “So as we think of the student side, that’s one component. The other side is on the teacher.”
Lumi Story, originally designed to aid creators by freeing them from the bottlenecks of traditional publishing, is evolving into a tool to bridge the chasm between students and educators, using AI as a tool. But why suddenly pivot to the education sector when its original purpose was different?
As per the founder, the reason to step into a different direction came from his realization that more than 70% of teachers have never received any formal AI training. Meanwhile, their students dive into AI tools every day.
“The gap between where students are and [where] teachers are on AI is so significant… If we actually want to get students up to speed, how do we support teachers in that process where they don’t feel like they have to be an AI expert in everything, all at once, to be able to start using it?” Kaepernick asks.
And this is where Lumi Story comes in. The company’s approach includes personalized onboarding, bi-weekly meetings, and real-time guidance for teachers. It’s not just about using AI tools — it’s about weaving them into the classroom in a natural, supported, and safe manner.
Can this offer a solution to combat the academic community’s apprehension that students are using AI to cheat? This worry has led to many schools turning to analog fixes like handwritten essays to avoid AI influence.
For Kaepernick, handwritten essays are as archaic as it gets: “That’s very counterproductive with where we need to be going. We’re going to use typewriters now?”
Instead of going backward, Lumi Story hence proposes transparency. Its tools allow teachers to track the student process — how they prompt, what questions they ask, how they engage. It’s not surveillance; it’s insight.
“We’re actually getting a lot more data points… So teachers can see what students are doing each step of the way,” revealed Kaepernick, who strongly believes that the future of education isn’t about resisting AI but about reshaping how we use it.
With Lumi Story, he’s not trying to replace teachers or sidestep their concerns. He’s building tools to support them, meet them where they are, and close the growing gap between tech-savvy students and under-resourced educators.
Is this a bold pivot that questions a traditional construct? Definitely yes. But coming from Kaepernick, bold is exactly what you’d expect.
