Helping parents navigate their children’s academic development in the age of AI
Recent data reveals that global attainment levels in the core academic disciplines of literacy, numeracy and science have had a marked decline. Many have speculated that AI could be to blame. This piece will address the current state of research about the degree to which AI educational tools are negatively impacting student attainment and what parents can do to offset these impacts.
This article will also draw on my own experiences as a tutor and my many interactions with parents who are concerned about their children’s academic performance. I receive questions regularly on how parents should introduce AI to their children, what limits may be needed and how to best adapt their education as the technology changes. There are continuous pressures on parents to find a technological edge for their children’s education. However, it is important to not treat AI as a tool which has authority over parents, educators and students. AI is a tool that should be integrated within a system of educator-led and data-backed approaches to learning. A key takeaway will be that learning the ‘hard way’ is even more necessary as the role of ed-tech in education continues to expand.
AI and Education: What we risk when AI becomes the teacher
AI’s advance has raised questions on how we educate and, more fundamentally, how we value education itself. As intelligence becomes increasingly abstracted from humans, we must ask whether AI is threatening the processes that make education meaningful.
Education is not merely the transfer of information, solutions, or data. It is knowledge shaped by experience and interpretation. A teacher’s knowledge is situated in their own perspective, and students encounter not just content, but a way of knowing.
I explore how AI’s value lies in its augmentation, rather than replacement, of education. It is critical that metrics don’t override experience, and that convenience does not overtake struggle. My work focuses on the ethical questions at the intersection of AI, intelligence, and education.