Building an AI Tutor That Works Without Internet: Lessons from Rural Ethiopia

Over 60% of Ethiopian students don't have reliable internet access. Yet they're expected to compete in an increasingly digital world. This reality hit me hard when I started building Ivy, an AI tutor for Ethiopian students, and realized that most EdTech solutions completely ignore the connectivity gap. The Offline-First Challenge When I began developing Ivy, my initial approach was typical: cloud-based AI models, real-time API calls, the usual suspects. Then I visited rural schools around Addis