AI in education: Greatest opportunity, existential threat

It was a tale of two different experiences from one source. Onyekachi had just completed an assignment in minutes with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), but struggles to explain what she had written.

While Amadi, another student, who once struggled to understand a difficult subject, is now grasping it with the help of an AI tutor that patiently explains every concept.

Both are products of the same technology, yet they tell two very different stories about the future of education.

For teachers, parents and students, AI is no longer a distant technological possibility; it is becoming part of everyday learning, changing how knowledge is acquired, assignments are completed and the classroom’s function.

While AI offers unprecedented opportunities to personalise learning, bridge educational gaps and empower teachers, it also raises uncomfortable questions about intellectual independence, creativity and the very meaning of learning.

Artificial intelligence is rewriting the rules of education, opening extraordinary possibilities for how educators teach, learn and prepare the next generation for an increasingly complex world.

From personalised learning and intelligent tutoring to faster access to knowledge and improved teaching efficiency, AI holds the promise of transforming classrooms and expanding educational opportunities on an unprecedented scale.

Yet, beneath this promise lies a troubling paradox: the very technology capable of liberating learners and empowering teachers could also undermine critical thinking, erode human judgment and leave an entire generation dangerously dependent on machines.

In education, AI could be the greatest opportunity for progress, or an existential threat to the very purpose of learning. The difference may ultimately depend not on how intelligent the machines become, but on how wisely people choose to use them.

James Dahl, Master of Wellington College, thinks AI in education, as well as in every sector, provides the most incredible opportunity if people can harness this transformational technology for good.

However, he emphasised that AI also poses some of the most existential threats that human beings have ever had if they allow AI to control them.

“We must be in control of how AI is deployed within education and within our schools. If used badly in education, children will become stupider, not cleverer,” he said.

Research on global intelligence tests over the last decade or so, from international academic rankings, such as PISA, reveals that in the OECD countries, young people are genuinely becoming less proficient at reading, writing, numeracy.

Stakeholders are worried that for the first time in the history of the modern world, the human race is becoming more stupid rather than cleverer.

A survey in the UK with a public think tank called Better Together, found out that 83 percent of secondary school age students were using AI at least once a week, and more than half were using it many times a week.

That simply suggests that AI has come to stay, and that young people are using it, even educators are using it. Consequently, Dahl believes that the education stakeholders must make the best of the opportunities offered by AI, instead of thinking of reinventing the technology.

“If AI can be deployed strategically and intentionally in schools in a way that optimises the learning of each individual child, there’s no way that that teacher can’t deliver a bespoke individualised lesson to each child.

“If as educators we can control the AI, deploy it strategically and intentionally, I think we can actually accelerate the learning process. We can make it more efficient,” he stressed.

Proper deployment of AI will free up more time in the school day for teachers to do what they are at their very best at, which is human to human connections with young people.

Lola Olukuewu, certified chief AI officer, emphasised the importance of equipping students with the skills to thrive in the emerging digital era.

Olukuewu noted that learning to innovate with AI is key to unlocking future opportunities; stressing that such an initiative will position students to become future-ready by promoting AI awareness, innovation, and the practical skills needed to succeed in an increasingly technology-driven world.

“Don’t abandon your passion because of AI; rather, evolve it with it. You shouldn’t just consume technology; create with it.

“Being an AI user is a starting point; learning to innovate with it is where the real opportunity lies,” she said.

According to Olukuewu, recent research shows that people who use AI for everything had a 36 percent drop-in brain activity and plasticity, among others; hence, she warned students not to rely solely on AI, because it will make them become mentally redundant.

AI regulation in schools

The need for ethical use of AI in the educational space cannot be overemphasised. UNESCO’s mandate calls inherently for a human-centred approach to AI.

The global agency aims to shift the conversation to include AI’s role in addressing current inequalities regarding access to knowledge, research and the diversity of cultural expressions and to ensure AI does not widen the technological divides within and between countries.

The promise of “AI for all” must be that everyone can take advantage of the technological revolution under way and access its fruits, notably in terms of innovation and knowledge.

According to the European Commission the significant increase of AI usage in education requires the introduction of regulations like the AI Act, which require careful compliance and a growing need for ethical and critical AI literacy.