Ludrick Cooper, an eighth-grade teacher in South Carolina, once resisted artificial intelligence in his classroom. Over time, he changed his stance.
“This is the new encyclopedia,” Cooper said, recalling his childhood fascination with reference books.
Cooper now joins a growing wave of teachers weaving AI into daily lessons. The rapid adoption highlights AI’s spread in schools, even as advantages and risks remain contested.
A Walton Family Foundation and Gallup survey showed six in ten teachers used AI during the 2024-2025 school year.
On Tuesday, First Lady Melania Trump launched the Presidential AI Challenge, urging students in kindergarten through twelfth grade to use AI for solving community challenges.
OpenAI introduced a “study mode” for ChatGPT and partnered with Instructure, a platform serving millions of students. Meanwhile, OpenAI, Microsoft and Anthropic teamed with teachers’ unions to invest $23 million in AI training for 400,000 educators.
AI promises engaging lessons and quick access to knowledge. Still, experts warn about potential downsides, from cheating to inequality and mental health risks.
Sarah Howorth, associate professor at the University of Maine, compared AI to fire. She said people admire its promise yet fear its dangers.
AI in the classroom
Instructure, the company behind Canvas, is working with OpenAI on the “LLM-Enabled Assignment.” The tool helps teachers design interactive, AI-powered lessons while monitoring student progress.
LLM stands for “large language model,” the technology powering ChatGPT. Teachers can ask AI to play roles that enrich lessons. For instance, a history teacher could have AI act as a president or political leader.
Melissa Loble, Instructure’s chief academic officer, said the project reflects a demand for fresh and engaging learning approaches.
Kayla Jefferson, a social studies teacher in New York City, uses AI to increase engagement, strengthen global literacy and encourage peer collaboration.
In one assignment, her students summarize and reflect on news articles using the AI-powered Padlet bulletin board. Students then interact with and respond to each other’s posts.
AI tools also improve accessibility, Howorth noted. Features like talk-to-text and text-to-speech aid learners with dyslexia or vision impairments.
But Matthew Rascoff, vice provost for digital education at Stanford, said AI must evolve to foster group learning. Collaboration, he stressed, builds essential community skills.
“Great classrooms create a sense of mutual responsibility for everybody’s learning,” Rascoff explained.
AI brings certain risks
The introduction of AI in education comes with major challenges.
The New York City Department of Education first banned ChatGPT on school devices due to cheating concerns. Later, it reversed course, acknowledging that schools had been caught off guard.
Instructure said its LLM-Assignment discourages shortcuts by guiding students through authentic learning experiences.
But cheating is not the only issue. The effects of AI on children’s mental health remain poorly understood.
One mother accused startup Character.AI of influencing her 14-year-old son’s suicide. She and other families have since filed lawsuits.
An Instructure spokesperson emphasized that Canvas uses AI in controlled settings, with safeguards keeping lessons tied to coursework.
Still, weaknesses persist. Talk-to-text tools, for example, often misinterpret speech from people with stutters or strong accents, Howorth observed.
Robin Lake, director of Arizona State University’s Center on Reinventing Public Education, warned of inequities. Poorer districts may lack the resources to keep pace with wealthier ones in adopting AI.
A national survey by the center revealed sharp gaps in teacher training. High-poverty districts reported significantly lower numbers than wealthier counterparts.
“We must ensure disadvantaged schools benefit equally from AI,” Lake said. “Privileged students currently enjoy more tools, more opportunities and stronger instruction.”
Some rural and urban schools also said pressing needs leave little room to prepare for future technologies.
Not all teachers convinced
Despite AI’s rise, some educators remain doubtful.
Lauren Monaco, a veteran New York City pre-K and kindergarten teacher, called AI a crutch. She argued that teaching requires human insight and critical analysis that technology cannot replicate.
“Teaching is not just transactional input and output,” Monaco said. “Our profession has been under attack. I keep asking: Who benefits from this?”
Lake at Arizona State University raised another concern. She said schools must also consider how AI shapes tomorrow’s workforce.
“What will students need to succeed in an AI-driven economy?” she asked. “Educators must begin preparing them now.”
