With the rise of artificial intelligence, advocates say it can be a helpful tool for kids and teachers — but others say it discourages students from critical thinking.
Many educators have been teaching themselves how to use AI. For Jerome Ong, a 5th grade teacher in Ridgewood, New Jersey, AI has changed the way he approaches teaching. He now uses AI tools every week in his classroom.
“You have to find what works for your students,” he said.
Ong not only teaches his students what AI is — but also where it falls short.
“If you keep at it and say, ‘no, you’re wrong. You’re wrong’ — eventually AI will say, ‘I’m sorry, I was wrong.’ Doing that with your class can show you that AI isn’t really as smart as you think it is,” Ong said.
Training teachers to use AI
This summer, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic announced a first-of-its-kind plan to train hundreds of thousands of members of the American Federation of Teachers, the country’s second-largest teachers’ union.
“I think if we’re going to make AI work for students, for kids, we need to listen to teachers,” said Microsoft president Brad Smith.
The $23 million investment will go toward virtual and in-person training in New York City.
“AI holds tremendous promise but huge challenges—and it’s our job as educators to make sure AI serves our students and society, not the other way around,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten in the AFT’s announcement. “The direct connection between a teacher and their kids can never be replaced by new technologies, but if we learn how to harness it, set commonsense guardrails and put teachers in the driver’s seat, teaching and learning can be enhanced.”
“It can, I think, change the way teachers work in ways that empower teachers, gives them more information, makes it easier in terms of preparing for classes, thinking about how to put together lesson plans,” Smith said.
In a recent survey by Gallup and Walton Family Foundation, teachers reported saving an average of nearly six hours a week with the help of AI.
Ong said if AI is already here, “let’s try to figure this out to help our kids continue to learn and grow.”
However, critics cite cheating concerns and Microsoft’s own research, which showed a self-reported decline in critical thinking skills when AI was not used responsibly.
“This is a way to get profits,” said former high school teacher and AFT member Lois Weiner.
She thinks teachers would be better served by more support within schools than by an alliance with Silicon Valley.
“There is so much drudgery in the job, but the answer to that is to improve the conditions of teachers’ work,” said Weiner, adding that AI does not accomplish improving work conditions for teachers.
Smith said ultimately education should be left to teachers, “those of us in the tech sector need to provide the tools and empower the school boards and districts and teachers so they decide how to put those tools in practice.”
Changes in policy
CBS News analyzed shifts in AI policies in the country’s largest 20 school districts between 2023 and 2025.
The analysis found that while some district policies were unclear in 2023 or did not initially block the use of AI, there is now guidance on how it can be utilized in the classroom.
The data can be found below.
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