Welcome back. Our education systems are, by and large, artifacts of the 19th century. They are built on the transmission of static information, standardised for scale. But what if learning could be as immersive, personalized, and experiential as the best video game? What if instead of reading about the Roman Senate, you could stand in it, argue a point before Cicero, and see the consequences of your rhetoric unfold? This is the promise of World Models in education: the creation of pedagogical simulations of such fidelity that they collapse the distinction between learning about the world and experiencing it.The core idea is experiential mastery. We learn best by doing, by making mistakes in a safe environment and seeing the results. A World Model can provide the ultimate safe environment: a perfect simulation of any system. A student learning physics isn't just solving equations on a page; they are in a simulated lab where they can build Rube Goldberg machines, tweak gravity, and see the laws of motion play out in real time. A medical student isn't just memorizing anatomy; they are performing virtual surgery on a patient whose physiology reacts realistically to every incision.But the power goes beyond simulating physical systems. A history student could be placed inside a generative World Model of 1929 Berlin. They aren't on rails; they can explore the city, talk to AI inhabitants with period-accurate knowledge and perspectives, read virtual newspapers, and try to navigate the political and economic turmoil. They learn history not as a series of dates, but as a lived, systemic experience. The simulation can run forward from their decisions, showing them alternative historical paths.This allows for personalised learning trajectories. The World Model can adapt the simulation in real-time to challenge the student appropriately. If they're struggling with a concept in biology, the simulation can generate simpler, clearer examples. If they're excelling, it can introduce complexity and rare edge cases. The student is never bored, never left behind.This also enables teaching complex systems thinking, which is desperately lacking in modern education. A student could be put in charge of a simulated city's budget, a nation's climate policy, or a company's supply chain. They would see the second- and third-order effects of their decisions play out over simulated years, learning about unintended consequences, trade-offs, and resilience in a way no textbook ever could.The teacher's role transforms from a lecturer to a simulation guide and Socratic mentor. They curate the learning worlds, frame the challenges, and help students reflect on their simulated experiences.My controversial take is that the adoption of World Model-based education will be the single biggest factor in reducing global inequality in the 21st century. It can provide every child, anywhere, with access to the equivalent of the world's best labs, most experienced mentors, and most immersive field trips. It can make learning a joy of discovery rather than a chore of memorization.But it requires us to rethink everything: curriculum design, teacher training, and assessment. We won't test with multiple-choice questions; we'll assess by observing how a student navigates a complex, simulated crisis. The educational singularity isn't about AI replacing teachers; it's about AI dissolving the walls of the classroom and revealing the entire universe as the true campus.Of course, these simulated worlds are complex software systems, and all complex software has bugs. Our penultimate episode tackles the unique and critical challenge of debugging an AI's reality.This has been The World Model Podcast. We believe the future of learning is experiential. Subscribe now.