What happened
Orange has launched MentorIA, an artificial intelligence application for the educational sector, developed by BQ and designed by Humansdid. The tool uses a Socratic method to guide students in History and Biology for 4th-year ESO students, currently in pilot phase in three Madrid schools.
Orange has entered the artificial intelligence market with the launch of MentorIA, a software application designed specifically for the school environment. This move diversifies the telecommunications company's traditional business into digital services applied to education, positioning it in the EdTech segment. The platform was conceived by the specialized firm Humansdid and technically developed by the Spanish company BQ, operating under Orange's institutional and commercial framework.
The application utilizes a conversational architecture based on the Socratic method. Instead of generating complete texts or solving exercises automatically, the AI engine responds to student queries by formulating guiding questions, contextual hints, and cognitive challenges. The technical objective is to force the user to complete the deductive process independently, using technology as a support guide rather than a substitute for intellectual effort.
The first deployment phase targets 4th-year Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) students, with content adapted to History and Biology subjects. The platform operates within a closed, private digital environment that does not index data in open search engines. It complies with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regarding minors' personal data and includes a personalization engine that adjusts tone, difficulty, and interaction speed based on age and usage patterns.
Commercial deployment began with an initial pilot test in three educational centers in the Community of Madrid. Following the collection of usage metrics and pedagogical performance evaluation, Orange has started recruiting new public and private schools to extend the field trial. The company plans to use data from this second phase to scale the service to more academic subjects and evaluate regular commercialization within its digital services catalog for educational institutions.
Source details: cincodias.elpais.com ↗
Why it matters
This launch represents a significant diversification for a major telecom provider into the EdTech market, specifically addressing the growing concern over 'cognitive outsourcing' in schools. By restricting the AI from providing direct answers and instead using guiding questions, MentorIA offers a distinct approach to AI integration in education that prioritizes student autonomy and compliance with data protection regulations for minors.
The launch occurs amid sectoral debate over 'cognitive outsourcing,' a trend where students delegate academic task resolution to commercial generative language models. Industry data suggests that unfiltered integration of immediate response systems is affecting autonomous reasoning and reading comprehension in developing minds. MentorIA's strategy addresses this by restricting the delivery of final solutions, offering a model that does not compete with direct response performance but rather supports the learning process.
For the education sector, this product offers a compliant, privacy-focused alternative to general-purpose AI chatbots. By placing teachers at the operational center, allowing them to create virtual classrooms, parameterize content according to official curricula, and monitor individual progress, the tool integrates into existing pedagogical structures without replacing the teacher's role in real-time interaction.
The commercial viability of the project depends on validation by educational administrations and school leadership teams. This is particularly relevant as regulations regarding the use of devices and AI software in the school environment are currently being reviewed by Spanish health and education authorities.
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What to watch next
Monitor the expansion of the pilot program to additional schools and subjects, as well as the regulatory response from Spanish educational authorities regarding the use of AI in classrooms.
The expansion of the pilot program beyond the initial three schools in Madrid to a broader network of public and private institutions.
The regulatory developments in Spain concerning the use of AI in educational settings, which may influence the adoption rate and specific features of the platform.
The potential expansion of MentorIA to additional academic subjects beyond History and Biology, and its eventual commercialization as a standard service in Orange's educational catalog.