A colleague says 'I refuse to use AI. It's destroying education.' What do you actually say back?

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You could answer: "That's what they said about the calculator: it's destroying mathematics education."This doesn't tell your colleague they're wrong. It places their concern in a pattern: every major cognitive tool has triggered the same fear, and so far, none of them have destroyed education. The burden of proof shifts quietly, they now have to explain what makes AI fundamentally different.A...

I'm sharing an actual letter I shared with parents of a grade 4 class - I am doing AI Literacy (some links to actual content in the email/letter - I would state that we cannot paint with "broad brushstrokes" and "AI" is actuall a lot of "things" ... I would seek conversation and shared understanding of what problem we were trying to solve as well as what "is actually AI and what is it actually...

My reply would be "I understand why you are thinking this and to some degree it is true. It is destroying our current education system that is founded on old practices and different times. Is this really a negative? If we can focus on problem solving and critical thinking skills our students will be ready to work with AI as a partner tool. It is important that we explicitly teach these...

That instinct to protect learning, to guard what makes education meaningful, is exactly the kind of thinking we need more of, not less. It's okay to mourn what feels lost. Some of what we loved about teaching like the struggle, the process, the moment a kid figured something out on their own feels threatened right now, and that grief is legitimate. Healthy skepticism is an asset. What concerns...

I actually had that statement from my collegue. She even said that AI is killing education,but at that time she knew only chatgpt. The sad fact is that the teachers criticising AI knew only chatgpt,claude,perplexity, but educational platforms based on AI, such as School AI,Brisk,Magic school are game changers.They support,not replace students knowledge. How can you be a real-time tutor during...

I say your absolutely right, its destroying the old way of doing things. Everyone knows and many probably agree that the education systems is long over due for a major overahall. AI in education is the only solution that is practical at scale and efficient enough for schools and governments to leverage. Otherwise it would take a much greater shift most people are not ready for. What is it...

I have a very standard response to this sort of thinking, because it is the logic being used, not the object of the logic (in this case, AI), that must be addressed. My response is,If we believe it to be that detrimental, then our only recourse is to master AI in such a way as to reduce that detriment through education.I grew up at a time when I needed to request permission from my teacher to...

I don’t try to win that conversation. I try to understand what’s sitting underneath it.Usually, when a colleague says that, it’s not really about the tool. It’s about what they’re seeing in their classroom. Learning shortcuts, loss of confidence in assignments, and a sense that something important is slipping. Some of those concerns are valid. I’ve seen them too.So I’d probably start with...

I would wonder out loud about the world students are entering. If time allowed, I would show the person the NBC video from 1995 https://youtu.be/95-yZ-31j9A?si=_hr_mBqsmO9bNM05 when Katie Couric, Brian Gumbel, and Matt Lauer were first introduced to the Internet. I would wonder aloud about a workforce where AI is no longer a novelty but an embedded expectation. If we do not model the positive...

I hear this sentiment quite often, and I usually approach it in two ways. First, I ask whether they have actually used AI in an educational context. Their answer tells me a lot. If they have not, I ask how they have come to the conclusion that it is destroying education. In many ways, this reminds me of how computers were initially resisted. Over time, they became essential. AI feels similar,...