Artificial Intelligence, a major plot device of countless sci-fi stories and films, has become an ever growing part of our real day-to-day lives. 

One place in particular that A.I. is becoming more and more prevalent is in America’s classrooms. Advocates for A.I. in the classroom claim that it has the unique ability to create personalized lesson plans for each individual student. That it is able to adapt to a student’s personal learning styles and pinpoint the most helpful methods to get them the education they need, not just the education the instructor offers. 

Detractors, like myself, argue that by allowing A.I. to take over the classroom, the human connection between teacher and student is lost and technology consumes yet another part of our lives. While A.I. may be able to craft personalized lesson plans for students, it cannot inquire about their home lives, their hopes and dreams, or give personalized advice that comes from shared experiences. 

Teaching is one of the most human things that we are capable of doing as a species. An educated person imparting upon young people the knowledge that they have acquired through years of study and life experience. This goes far deeper than lesson plans and textbooks, it extends into life lessons and wisdom that can only be gained by growing older and living life. 

Sure, A.I. is capable of scanning thousands of documents and summarizing them into bullet points for students to read, but they offer nothing outside of that limited range. Teaching goes far deeper than whiteboards and homework assignments, but by putting that crucial element in the hands of technology, we risk losing that personal connection entirely. 

Who is to say that by introducing A.I. into the classroom that we are not simply paving the way for teachers to no longer be needed. If A.I. can serve the primary educator role and we place no priority on the human connection between a teacher and their students then why would schools even bother hiring teachers at all? 

Some would argue that this is far fetched and would never come to fruition but if the past twenty years of technological advancement has shown us anything it is this: tech changes quickly. The Wright Brothers launched the first powered flight in 1903 and by 1969 we were landing men on the moon. If we fully integrate A.I. into all U.S classrooms by 2030, who can say what schools look like by 2050?

 A.I. tools like ChatGPT have been introduced to the public and have already changed the way teachers plan assignments and curriculum. Students  are beginning to use A.I. outside of class to do assignments for them or simply as another tool to aid them with their coursework. If it is used sparingly, this can be very beneficial. 

It is when we fully embrace this technology and allow it into the classroom that we set ourselves on a course of no return. We make landfall in a new country and burn the ships. The internet has forever changed our world and now there is no taking it back to what it once was before it. 

If we introduce Artificial Intelligence into our classrooms, we may never get them back. But of course, that’s just one man’s opinion. 

Categories: Opinion