Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly changing the way learning works. As the technology improves, its effects on schools will only grow stronger. Not long ago, the idea of technology instantly writing essays, changing lessons for each student, or checking if students were bored during a class seemed impossible. Now, thanks to generative AI models, all of these things are happening.

While AI offers great benefits, like making learning faster and giving students customized lessons, it also brings up serious dangers. These risks include ethical problems and threats to the safety of student data. This new situation means the global community must act fast to set new rules on data privacy. These rules may include setting algorithmic transparency standards. They may also ensure AI tools are fairly accessible to everyone. Finally, they might establish strict protocols to protect students’ private data.

The Future of Pedagogy

AI is now fully a part of many school programs. This happened because countries are preparing for a world built on AI. Governments are working hard to update school systems for this new age by training teachers, redesigning the curriculum, and creating rules to handle the ethical problems AI creates. Because of this worldwide effort, the education market for AI is expected to be worth over USD 20 billion by 2027.

China has already made AI education a mandatory part of the primary and secondary school curriculum, ensuring that students from elementary through high school are introduced to foundational concepts in artificial intelligence, algorithmic thinking, and robotics. Parts of China also use AI to check on students. Face-checking technology powered by AI can tell students’ feelings, like happy, sad, or surprised. These computer systems can also watch what students are doing—either reading, writing, or listening. Similarly, a teacher named Professor Wei Xiaoyong at Sichuan University used the face-checking technology to find students who were bored during class talks. Specialized learning systems that use AI can provide teachers with real-time feedback, helping to customize instruction and improve student performance.

South Korea has explored AI-powered books for classes like mathematics, English, computer science, and Korean. These books adjust lessons to each student’s skill level and learning speed. To support this initiative, the government put in almost USD 70 million to upgrade the internet infrastructure, develop these books, and provide digital assistants to help implement the system in classrooms. However, concerns about teacher preparation, as well as data privacy and security risks, prompted the government to delay the full rollout of AI-powered textbooks until 2027. The Ministry of Education announced it would allocate USD 760 million over three years to train teachers in using AI effectively. This shows how integrating AI in education requires investing in people and training, rather than focusing solely on the technology itself.

Another main way in which AI is changing schools is with 24/7 AI chatbots and virtual helpers. These tools let students keep learning even after class is over, and they make students less reliant on teacher availability. For example, Georgia State University used a chatbot named Pounce to successfully answer new students’ questions, which cut down the number of students who quit before they even started school.

The Risk of Automation and AI Dependency

In 2025, student work and machine output became increasingly connected. A 2025 survey indicated that 88 percent of undergraduates in the United Kingdom now use AI for their assignments. This is a massive jump from 53 percent just a year ago. This change has happened faster than universities can make new rules, as only about 29 percent of students feel as if their schools offer clear guidelines with these tools. As a result, many students use apps that are viewed skeptically by professors.

The line between a person’s work and computer contributions is often unclear. When students use AI to help them think and write ideas for a project, the final result is a mix of what the computer made and what the student changed. New studies show that in high-income countries, more than two out of every three high school students are using AI tools to automate academic assignments.

The ease of accessing instant solutions has caused cognitive offloading. This is where people leave their memory and problem-solving tasks to technology. This can be helpful because it lets one’s brain have space for harder tasks. Yet, it also risks damaging critical thinking when used too much. AI-generated content and decision-making tools can discourage independent analysis, stopping one from thinking for oneself. This makes students passive consumers instead of active thinkers. Therefore, it is important to figure out how to make better human decision-making, as automatic tools grow very fast.

Schools must quickly change their academic integrity policies. Not everything that uses AI is cheating. The ethical issue is a matter of transparency. Simultaneously, how educators teach students must change. For example, in the UK, 75 percent of teachers report having received no formal training in AI. This gap should be addressed so that people can evaluate, synthesize, and apply information thoughtfully.

Conclusion

AI in schools entirely changes the experience of students and teachers. It alters how learning happens. Delegates of HLAB-AI should therefore focus on advising on global rules for AI to help everyone. There should be clear guidelines for keeping information private, standards for how computer programs work, rules for fair AI usage, and plans for protecting student data privacy. Additionally, if caution is not taken, there is a risk that human intelligence will start to depend on automatic systems.

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