As students return for a new school year, artificial intelligence is beginning to seep into the classroom. In at least one London private school, a pilot group will begin studying core subjects for GCSE exams in “teacherless” classrooms using AI-powered systems, supervised by “learning coaches”. The disruption of teaching by technology is, though, not universally welcomed. In South Korea, a plan to introduce AI-powered digital textbooks in schools in 2025 has sparked a backlash among wary academics and parents.
As in other fields, AI is in reality unlikely to replace teachers any time soon, and nor should it. Research suggests the best learning is social, involving interaction between teachers and students, and between students themselves. This is one reason why “massive open online courses” — open-access, web-based courses aimed at wide participation — have not lived up to the hype around their arrival in the 2010s.
AI is also unlikely ever to be able to substitute for the judgment, motivation, guidance and pastoral care a teacher can provide. But since students will enter AI-equipped workplaces, schools must prepare them to navigate that world, including through how they learn. And AI holds the prospect of empowering teachers — giving them more time to do what they do best.