“It is increasingly difficult for parents to find education solutions for their families that are both academically superb and ideologically safe,” said Iles. “The program really started with a question: How do you combine academic excellence and ideological accountability in a single education model that’s accessible to everyone?”
Proto will operate from a single master curriculum to translate its content into age-appropriate learning materials, primarily for home-education families but will be applicable to traditional classrooms, churches and educational communities. Once fully operational, it will create specialized outputs such as syllabi, lesson plans, assessments and other educational resources that be customized for individual learners and instructional settings.
“Proto is meant to support education rather than replace it,” Iles said.
Although its still in its early stages, computer science students played a key role in the research and development as a five-member senior design team provided critical early contributions to help shape the foundational decisions related to the program’s AI models.
The team includes senior computer science majors Lydia Bingamon and Linnea Albright; senior cyber operations major Eli Payton; junior Matthew Dudley, who is double majoring in cyber operations and computer science; and sophomore cyber operations major Joshua Hochstedler.
Since the project’s launch, four more juniors joined, including Myles Young and Micah Crowe, who are double majoring in cyber operations and computer science, and computer sciences majors Doreen Yin and Caleb Cao.
Iles said partnering with Cedarville students allowed them to test the project’s feasibility, refine the project through hands-on development and invest in equipping future leaders to work faithfully in advanced technology.
“We’re grateful to be working with Cedarville, and the project team has genuinely added a lot to what we’re doing,” he said, explaining he hopes to expand Proto’s capacity for interactive learning.
“AI can construct virtual, immersive worlds that students can learn in ... You could be learning about the American Revolution or Moses crossing the Red Sea and observe events happening in a particular time and place. Our long-term goal is to increase interactivity, engagement and historical understanding in learning.”
Iles began his legal career at a commercial law firm in Australia before founding the Human Rights Law Alliance, which became Australia’s first law firm dedicated to religious freedom. In 2018, he was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Christian Lobby, and in 2023, he was invited to the U.S. to serve as Co-Chief Executive Officer of Answers in Genesis.
He is now co-founder of Protoverse, LLC, a U.S.-based education technology company focused on AI-enabled learning and is Principal Content Creator for At the Crux, where he hosts a podcast and social media platform, and leads the creation of Christian teaching materials.
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