Ram Gopal Varma says AI should replace traditional education days after NEET protests: “Nothing is perfect and every decision…”
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has weighed in on the ongoing debate surrounding the NEET controversy, using the moment to argue that India’s education system needs a complete overhaul rather than incremental reforms. His remarks come days after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned amid nationwide protests over alleged irregularities in the medical entrance examination process.
In a lengthy post on X (formerly Twitter), Varma questioned whether the country was focusing on the right issue, suggesting that traditional education itself is becoming obsolete in the age of artificial intelligence.
Ram Gopal Varma questions the focus of the NEET protests
Beginning his post with the words, “A BUNCH OF COCKROACHES or SHEEP?”, Varma addressed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, students and the public, saying that while no system is perfect, the larger conversation should be about the future of education.
He argued that while global technology leaders are predicting the disappearance of many entry-level jobs due to AI, India continues to focus on repairing what he described as a failing education model: “While the biggest CEOs on the planet are shouting hoarse that most entry level jobs will soon vanish, here we are busy celebrating NEET protests not realising that we are trying to heal a system which is already on the ventilator taking it’s last breath.”
Ram Gopal Varma calls for AI-powered customised learning
Varma proposed replacing institutional education with customised, AI-driven learning tailored to individual students.
According to him, students should determine the duration of their professional courses based on their learning ability rather than follow a fixed academic timeline. His note read, “Not a board, but a student should decide the length of his professional course… Some minds absorb in six months what others cannot even in four years. Then why force both into the same prison of a fixed course?”
He also suggested that examinations should be conducted whenever students feel prepared instead of following a university calendar.
Ram Gopal Varma suggests AI tools should be allowed during examinations
The filmmaker went a step further by proposing that students should be permitted to use artificial intelligence tools during examinations: “Students should be allowed to take any AI tools they want into their exam halls and they should be only tested for how fast and how creatively they can use AI.”
Varma argued that such a model would make education more affordable, improve the quality of learning, offer greater flexibility and provide equal opportunities to students regardless of their economic background.
Ram Gopal Varma says, “We need a revolution”
Listing what he believes are the benefits of AI-based education, Varma said it could reduce the cost and duration of education, provide every student with a personalised AI tutor and eliminate unnecessary coursework.
Concluding his post, the filmmaker wrote: “We don’t need reform. We need a revolution because we are standing at a threshold where AI can finally liberate education from the slave model of the past that treated every student as an identical product in an assembly line, or in other words as a BUNCH OF SHEEP.”
A BUNCH OF COCKROACHES or SHEEP?
I strongly wish to bring the below to the notice of @NarendraModi ,@NandanNilekani , #cockroachJanataParty and the #StudentsOfIndia
Nothing is perfect and every decision will have its pros and cons ..Am hoping that my below observations will…— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) July 28, 2026
Varma’s comments have added a fresh perspective to the ongoing discussion around India’s education system, shifting the conversation beyond the NEET controversy to the broader role artificial intelligence could play in shaping future learning models.
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