UNICEF says that ChatGPT cut textbook work to about a month

UNICEF's Evaluation Office relays unchecked figures that ChatGPT cut the time to create accessible digital textbooks from up to a year to about a month and the cost to $1 per page.

  • 1 for an organization

    By the figures that the case study relays, the model cut the time to create the textbooks from up to a year to about a month and the cost to $1 per page.

  • Not rated a person

    The case study does not report that children used textbooks made with the model, which was still being tested in Uruguay.

Depth runs from 1, a convenience or time saved, to 5, a life or a livelihood preserved.

Status
Reported benefit.
Evidence

foundstudiedreportedclaimed

An independent descriptive report supports the benefit.

Compared with

Creating the textbooks before AI. Assumed without a measurement.

Without the system
up to a year, and $30,000 to create the books
With it
about a month, and $1 per page
The system’s part
Not isolated. The case study names ChatGPT, OpenAI's large language model, so the system learns from data. It relays unchecked figures for time and cost and does not measure production with and without the model.
Not yet checked
LimitsCosts and harmsLearns from dataLater outcome

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Benefit type
Reduced Task Time
System
ChatGPT (OpenAI's large language model, used through API credits to create Accessible Digital Textbooks)
Made by
OpenAI
Used by
UNICEF (Accessible Digital Textbooks initiative), testing the AI process in Uruguay
Where
Uruguay (testing at the time of reporting)
Stage
In a pilot
Date
, when the source was published
Kind
Benefit created
Broad benefit
Documenting/Recording Information, Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others
Collections
Cross-border records
Last revised
1 November 2026

Sources

  1. Descriptive report, by authors with no tie to the system.

    UNICEF Evaluation Office. Evaluation of Innovation in UNICEF: Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Thematic Case Study Report. New York, December 2025 (imprint November 2025). The case study was carried out between March and October 2025.

    UNICEF's global partnership with OpenAI has been transformative for reducing the time and cost to create ADTs. Before AI, it took up to a year to create ADTs and now they can be completed in about a month.

Details

AI system

Workflow

OpenAI gave UNICEF API credits to use its large language model, ChatGPT. UNICEF used the model to create Accessible Digital Textbooks, interactive digital versions of traditional textbooks.

Money

Kind of value

Cost to create the textbooks with the language model, which staff estimated at $30,000 to create the books before AI

Amount

Estimate: $1 per page

Recipients and payers

UNICEF

Follow-up

Conditions for replication

The cost of $1 per page depends on the API credits that OpenAI provided. Risks such as the loss of copyrights must be managed. Governments need funding to scale the textbooks.

Entry details

Sector

Education and disability inclusion.

Purpose

OpenAI built ChatGPT, a large language model, to generate text from instructions. UNICEF used it to create accessible digital versions of textbooks.

38 more questions not yet checked

model, release, provider, role, configuration, inputs and outputs, autonomy, human oversight, AI contribution, beneficiaries, reach, distribution and access, duration, every measurement question, currency and prices, period and unit, realization, gross or net, included costs, comparison, method, return and payback, ownership and control, dependencies, cross-border connections, geopolitical implications, replication attempts, availability, institutional decision, grounds, action and result, success criterion, every evidence question, observed or intended, alternative assessments, related entries, other identifiers, category mappings.

Cite this record

Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). UNICEF says that ChatGPT cut textbook work to about a month (AIBD-1168). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 1 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-1168.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 7.0)

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