Artificial intelligence in education isn\u2019t just hype anymore \u2014 it\u2019s already reshaping how students learn and how teachers teach.<\/p>\n
Artificial intelligence in education isn\u2019t just hype anymore \u2014 it\u2019s already reshaping how students learn and how teachers teach.<\/p>\n
Done right, the technology can save teachers hours, give students real-time help and make classrooms more equitable.\n<\/p>\n
Charles Harry \u2014 who spent two decades in government before turning to academia \u2014 has been watching the shift up close. He\u2019s now the director of the Center for Governance of Technology and Systems (GoTech) and an associate research professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been told that I am unusual among professors with AI,\u201d Harry said. \u201cI love AI and I use AI as much as I possibly can \u2014 both in the designing of my courses, the implementation of the courses, and also encouraging my students to use it. But you just have to be careful, and that requires a little bit more thought about how you\u2019re going to employ it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Personalized and persistent learning<\/p>\n
On the plus side, AI can adapt content in real time, adjusting to how fast or slow a student learns.<\/p>\n
A 2024 meta-analysis of 36 studies published in Science Insights Education Frontiers<\/a> found moderately positive effects from AI-assisted personalized learning, with the strongest gains in knowledge retention and overall competence.<\/p>\n \u201cStudents are already using it, whether you like it or not, they use it. \u2026 We have to reimagine how we\u2019re teaching and how we leverage these tools,\u201d Harry said. \u201cIf you do that, it requires a little bit of work and you\u2019ve got to upskill yourself. But I firmly believe that it is a huge net positive.\u201d<\/p>\n Real-time support<\/p>\n One of the biggest hurdles in education is that help often comes too late. AI flips that script.<\/p>\n AI models can flag issues before a paper is submitted and chatbots can answer homework questions in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gives me, as an instructor, the ability to turbocharge my class,\u201d Harry said.<\/p>\n He said without AI, he\u2019d feel like all he\u2019d be able to do is teach Programming 101. With it, students who may not have any background in coding are able to manipulate complex data and build spatial maps in 13 weeks.<\/p>\n Time back for teachers and a boost for students<\/p>\n Surveys show<\/a> many educators are saving five to six hours a week thanks to AI tools.<\/p>\n Harry said that time translates into better teaching.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually almost mandate its use for the students,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd what that allows me to do is create much more complicated assignments, and what the focus ends up being is less on the individual syntax, although we do learn syntax.\u201d<\/p>\n From voice-to-text to real-time translation, AI tools can level the playing field for students with disabilities, non-native English speakers and kids who simply learn differently.<\/p>\n Concerns remain<\/p>\n But not everyone is convinced. A quarter of U.S. teachers say AI does more harm than good in K-12 education and most worry it enables cheating, according to Pew Research<\/a>.<\/p>\n Harry said he draws a clear line in his classroom.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I care the most about is that the core ideas they\u2019re trying to communicate are their own,\u201d Harry said. \u201cIf you just put in a prompt in your favorite AI model, or your LLM, \u2018write me a two-page essay on this topic.\u2019 That\u2019s not kosher.\u201d<\/p>\n Privacy is another sticking point.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t trust any of them,\u201d Harry said of the platforms that say they care about privacy. \u201cIf people really want to use it as a digital twin, I think building their own platform makes an awful lot of sense.\u201d<\/p>\n An accelerating market<\/p>\n The AI-in-education market hit $2.5 billion in 2022, according to Allied Market Research<\/a>, and is projected to soar past $6 billion next year, on track for nearly $90 billion by 2032, per AIRPM.<\/p>\n Harry believes the change will be bigger than the internet.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is more transformative than the internet,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will touch and \u2026 improve the human condition more broadly.\u201d<\/p>\n The challenge, he said, is if students will be able to stop treating AI like \u201can easy button\u201d and start using it to unlock deeper learning.<\/p>\n