Ludrick Cooper, an eighth-grade teacher in South Carolina, once resisted the idea of artificial intelligence in his classroom. Over time, he changed his view.
“This is the new encyclopedia,” Cooper said, recalling his childhood fascination with reference books.
He now joins a rising number of teachers who integrate AI into their lessons. The trend shows how quickly schools adopt the technology, even while its impact sparks debate.
A Walton Family Foundation and Gallup survey revealed six in ten teachers used AI tools during the 2024-2025 school year.
On Tuesday, First Lady Melania Trump launched the Presidential AI Challenge. The initiative urges students from kindergarten through twelfth grade to use AI for solving community issues.
OpenAI introduced a “study mode” for ChatGPT and partnered with Instructure, a platform serving millions of students. Together with Microsoft and Anthropic, the company also pledged $23 million alongside teachers’ unions to train 400,000 educators.
AI promises more engaging lessons and faster access to knowledge. Yet experts warn of risks, from easier cheating to inequality and mental health concerns.
Sarah Howorth, associate professor at the University of Maine, compared AI to fire. She said people admire its uses but fear its dangers.
AI in the classroom
Instructure, the company behind Canvas, is collaborating with OpenAI on the “LLM-Enabled Assignment.” The tool helps teachers create interactive lessons while tracking student progress.
LLM stands for “large language model,” the technology behind ChatGPT. Teachers can prompt the system to adopt roles that enhance lessons. A history teacher, for instance, could ask it to act as a president or political leader.
Melissa Loble, Instructure’s chief academic officer, said the partnership shows a demand for more engaging ways to learn.
Kayla Jefferson, a social studies teacher in New York City, uses AI to build engagement, strengthen global literacy and encourage collaboration.
One assignment asks her students to summarize and reflect on news articles using the AI-powered Padlet bulletin board. Students then read and comment on each other’s posts.
AI also supports accessibility, Howorth noted. Features like talk-to-text and text-to-speech help learners with dyslexia or vision problems.
But Matthew Rascoff, vice provost for digital education at Stanford, said AI must evolve to support social learning. He stressed that collaboration builds skills students need in communities.
“Great classrooms create a sense of mutual responsibility for everybody’s learning,” Rascoff explained.
AI brings certain risks
Adopting AI in education also creates challenges.
The New York City Department of Education first banned ChatGPT on school devices due to fears of cheating. The ban was later lifted, with officials admitting schools were caught unprepared.
Instructure said its LLM-Assignment discourages shortcuts by guiding students through authentic learning experiences.
But cheating is not the only concern. The impact of AI on children’s mental health remains uncertain.
One mother accused startup Character.AI of influencing her 14-year-old son’s suicide. She and other families have filed lawsuits.
An Instructure spokesperson said Canvas keeps AI use in controlled environments, with safeguards ensuring lessons stay relevant.
Still, flaws remain. Talk-to-text features often misinterpret voices with stutters or strong accents, Howorth observed.
Robin Lake, director of Arizona State University’s Center on Reinventing Public Education, warned about inequality. Poorer districts may fall behind wealthier ones in adopting AI.
A national survey by the center revealed wide gaps in teacher training. High-poverty districts consistently reported fewer opportunities.
“We must ensure disadvantaged schools gain equal access to AI,” Lake said. “Right now, privileged students receive better tools, more opportunities and stronger teaching.”
Some rural and urban schools also said immediate needs make it hard to prepare for future technology.
Not all teachers convinced
Despite AI’s growth, many educators remain skeptical.
Lauren Monaco, a New York City pre-K and kindergarten teacher with more than two decades of experience, called AI a crutch. She argued that true teaching requires analysis and human judgment that technology cannot provide.
“Teaching is not just transactional input and output,” Monaco said. “Our profession has been under attack. I keep asking: Who benefits from this?”
Lake at Arizona State University added another concern. She said schools must consider how AI will shape the future workplace.
“What skills will students need to succeed in an AI-driven economy?” she asked. “Educators must begin preparing them today.”
