{"id":377844,"date":"2026-04-02T06:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377844\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T06:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:41:08","slug":"pupils-in-england-are-losing-their-thinking-skills-because-of-ai-survey-suggests-ai-artificial-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377844\/","title":{"rendered":"Pupils in England are losing their thinking skills because of AI, survey suggests | AI (artificial intelligence)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pupils using artificial intelligence are losing their capacity for critical thinking, according to a survey of secondary school teachers in England<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two-thirds said they had observed the decline among children who they also said no longer felt the need to spell because of voice-to-text technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents are losing core skills \u2013 thinking, creativity, writing, even how to have a conversation,\u201d one teacher told the National Education Union poll.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI is destroying what \u2018learning\u2019 \u2013 problem-solving, critical thinking and collaborative effort \u2013 is,\u201d said another. A third anonymous contributor added: \u201cChildren no longer feel the need to spell as voice-to-text replaces knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government has called for a digital revolution involving AI in schools, and in January announced plans to develop AI tutoring tools to provide one-to-one learning support for up to 450,000 disadvantaged pupils.<\/p>\n

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said at the time<\/a>: \u201cAI tutoring tools have the potential to transform access to tailored support for young people, taking tutoring from a privilege of the lucky few, to every child who needs it \u2013 so all children can achieve and thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the 9,000 state school teachers polled by the NEU, which is holding its conference in Brighton, 49% said they opposed the government\u2019s plan for AI tutors, with just 14% in agreement.<\/p>\n

They worry that it will be used to cut costs and undermine the value of teaching skills. \u201cStudents who need tutors often need more than academic support. AI will not give them that,\u201d said one respondent.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents will not be motivated by an AI tutor,\u201d said another, while a third said: \u201cDisadvantaged students need human interaction for tutoring rather than AI so that social skills can be enhanced and social isolation reduced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although teachers are sceptical about pupils using AI and complain about it aiding cheating in exams and homework, some admit they increasingly rely on it to do their jobs.<\/p>\n

As many as 76% use AI for day-to-day work, a significant increase from 53% last year. In the main, it is being used to create resources (61%), plan lessons (41%) and do admin (38%). Just 7% are using AI tools for marking.<\/p>\n

However, 49% of schools lack any policies governing the use of AI either by staff or students and 66% have no policy specifically for students.<\/p>\n

\u201cStaff are not trained to use it properly, but are using it and it\u2019s producing sub-standard slop,\u201d was one comment in the new poll. Another said: \u201cIf used correctly, AI can be a valuable educational tool; regulation and guidance is needed, and training and policies should be in place in every school for staff and students.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NEU\u2019s general secretary, Daniel Kebede, said: \u201cStudents must be able to think for themselves. This is at the heart of learning, but our survey shows a reliance on AI is having an effect on students\u2019 ability to think critically.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe profession is far from convinced that AI tutors are a magic bullet for closing opportunity gaps for disadvantaged students. The government is taking a risk in rolling out AI tutoring before its impacts are properly understood.\u201d<\/p>\n

A government spokesperson said: \u201cOur mission is to break the link between background and success, and the introduction of AI tutoring tools can help make that a reality \u2013 expanding the tailored support that is often only available to a privileged few to every child who needs it.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo technology should replace the foundations of core knowledge and disciplinary thinking that prepares pupils for later life. But we also have to prepare children for a digitally enabled world. That\u2019s why our schools white paper sets out a clear plan to ensure AI is used safely, critically and responsibly \u2013 so every young person can achieve and thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pupils using artificial intelligence are losing their capacity for critical thinking, according to a survey of secondary school…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[220,218,219,61,60,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-377844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}