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AS ORGANIZATIONS AND TEACHER FEDERATIONS, WE NEED TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WHAT WE ASPIRE AI TO DO IN EDUCATION SYSTEMS, WHAT THE CHALLENGES ARE, AND WHAT WE ARE SEEING. I THINK HAVING THESE CONVERSATIONS IS REALLY EMPOWERING FOR EDUCATORS. TEACHER PROFESSIONAL JUDGEMENT IS VERY IMPORTANT. TEACHERS NEED TO HAVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE WHEN POLICIES ARE BEING MADE.”
size, I wonder if AI will take away jobs. And which jobs it will take away. Would it be another teacher? I don’t believe so. Te prob- ability rankings that are coming out of the Oxford Martin School on automation in AI are very low for professions where social- emotional perception is needed. Psychologists, nurses, teachers – all of those positions have high social-emotional perceptions, so will likely not be automated. Where we may see AI starting to come into the classroom is around tutoring, additional supports, additional enhancements, things like that. It’s certainly a big part of the mar- keting. I’ve seen ads that say, “We’ll know your child better than you do, because we’ll learn with them.” Te teaching machine goes back to the 1900s. Its the idea that
we’ll create algorithms that will learn where students are struggling, and then give them exactly what they need, when they need it. I would argue that some of these AI systems are getting very good and very compelling at having a dialogue. You could have a conversation with an AI about something you’re learning in science, for example, as an elementary student. Te child or the teacher could have a conversation with AI to learn how to talk about turning liquid to gasses in an age-appropriate way. And it will actually create metaphor and language. Tat’s powerful, right? I think those are the things that will start to come into classrooms through teachers who are embrac- ing AI. Tis is something that’s not going away. As a teacher or as a student, you can use AI in pedagogically powerful and creative ways, such as creating a conversation with a book. Tat’s pretty cool, right? Tis cannot displace the work of a teacher, however, and professional judgement continues to be key. We need to find the balance between using these systems and over-trusting them.
MP: I also want to talk to you about equity. How do we ensure that that all students have the same AI access and training. You know, AI is learning everything, including discriminatory ideas. How should educators prepare?
PM: Equity is a really big issue. In our January 2025 research, we took a random sample of 3,000 Alberta teachers. Fiſty per cent told us that they were really concerned about the Matthew effect, which is the rich getting richer and having access to more resources while the poor get poorer when it comes to AI. For example, a family might pay for an AI tool at $25 or $30 per month for their child, while another child gets a free version of the same program that is much more limited. Or one child is exposed to AI systems and tools and therefore has a much higher literacy and understanding of misinfor- mation, whereas another child doesn’t have access or doesn’t have exposure. So, it really comes back to the digital divide – the same conversations we had around computers, who has them and who doesn’t. It’s a similar issue of equity. How will we build equitable AI
literacy into our public school system, so that all children can rise together in terms of their understanding, use and exposure. How will we ensure that we have equitable professional growth around AI among educators? Tese are all really important issues.
MP: Tere are so many considerations. How do you expect AI to evolve in public education?
PM: Tat’s a really good question. Right now, the idea of personal- izing learning with AI is all the rage but I don’t really buy it. Tis is a trope that’s been around for a long time. At school, only a teacher can know the whole child. When they scrape their knee on the play- ground and come in crying and you help them, that’s personalization. I know how you scored on one literacy assessment compared to an- other, that doesn’t offer too much. Education is about being human. My bigger concerns with AI in education, as I mentioned, are around moral passivity, cognitive atrophy and trust. We can’t anthropomorphize these tools. My worry, and what
many experts worry about, are the potential existential threats of these systems growing in their power, capacity, intelligence and reasoning to a point where they start to manipulate humans. Tat’s a big long-term concern. Tese systems are growing seven times every six months in their power and capacity. What you imagine to be AI technology 10 years from now will emerge within the next two to three years.
MP: What do organizations need to do to ensure that AI is used responsibly?
PM: Tere are three things I always talk about. As organizations and teacher federations, we need to have conversations about what we aspire AI to do in education systems, what the challenges are, and what we are seeing. I think having these conversations is really em- powering for educators. Number two, teacher professional judgement is very important. Teachers need to have a seat at the table when policies are being made. Tese can’t be developed and then thrust upon them by governments. We need to revisit these policies as AI changes, which happens quickly. Tirdly, we need to think about the impact on climate. It is really important to help educators understand AI through
professional development and equally important to set clear boundaries around how we’re using AI in order to protect the pri- vacy of students and educators and the work that we have to do. But AI also presents opportunities, and amplifying those aspects that benefit our classrooms will reflect the powerful tools that are available to educators. n
Meagan Perry is a member of the ETFO executive staff. This interview was originally produced as an episode of ETFO’s Elementary podcast. Listen to it in full at
etfo.ca.
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