The “jury is out” on the potential benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has heard.

“The risks associated with AI in education are huge de-professionalisation of teaching, dehumanisation of learning and the amplification of racial, gender, cultural biases,” the union’s general secretary, Michael Gillespie, told the annual congress in Co Kilkenny this week.

Concerns have been raised at the congress of the risks AI poses to the integrity of assessment and knowing if students’ work is genuine, as well as the inequalities in access to technology across schools.

It has become a particular talking point in recent times amid the reformed senior cycle curriculum where up to 40 per cent of the grade in some subjects is made up with coursework done by students on their own.

Mullingar Community College art teacher and TUI executive member Joe Rayfus co-ordinates an AI classroom assistant pilot programme across schools in Ireland.

“AI is not just any new technology. It’s a whole new world,” Rayfus told The Irish Times on Wednesday.

Equating its growth to the beginnings of social media, Rayfus said AI could quickly become “the wild, wild west”.

“I think if we don’t actually appropriately look at AI and how it’s going to be integrated into education, we could end up in a situation with only 1,000 more problems [than those posed by social media],” he said.

“These are all very, very powerful tools, but only if they’re used in the right context.

“If we’re not careful in terms of providing appropriate training and upskilling for teachers who are desperately trying to navigate this world on their own then [we may see] through no fault of their own, them perhaps using it inappropriately,” he said.

It comes as Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton announced the establishment of an AI in schools external advisory taskforce during the annual teachers conferences.

The taskforce will “provide a structured forum for engagement with key education stakeholders, teachers’ unions, management bodies, relevant agencies and experts to examine the evolving implications of AI for teaching, learning and assessment and to inform the ongoing development of policy, guidance and supports in this evolving area,” the Department said.

The first meeting of the taskforce will take place in May. It is “a good starting point”, Rayfus said, but it is key that any guidance on AI is part of a live, working document and that it does not take six months to deliver.

“The problem with technology such as AI, is it develops at such a rapid pace. By the time we wait for a paper that might take six months to come out, it’s borderline obsolete, if not completely obsolete, because technology is advancing in that way. So it needs to be a live working document, and it needs to engage teachers.”