Historically, when schools have tried to isolate children and adolescents from the dangers of new technological advances, they have failed as institutions and have increased student failure. This does not mean that decisions about artificial intelligence (AI) should be made solely based on that past, but it is important to take it into account.
First, it is impossible to prevent students from using AI. Schools have never been all-powerful in controlling the influences students receive, but today they are less so than ever. Socialization now comes from multiple dimensions. Trying to prohibit AI use in one school does not prevent other schools from encouraging it, and students from different schools interact in other areas such as leisure, family, or sports, not to mention the growing number of digital interactions.
Second, attempting to ban AI requires controls that demand increasing amounts of time and resources, and it creates more tension. Schools that try to do so will have to devote more and more effort to a goal that will not be achieved in the medium term anyway. As a result, efforts to improve learning and school coexistence will inevitably decline.
Third, trying to ban AI leaves children and adolescents in the hands of other individuals and organizations outside the school. Some of these actors have commercial interests, while others pursue clearly harmful or even criminal purposes.
Taking advantage of AI’s potential to improve education while preventing its negative effects requires schools themselves to introduce students to its use in a way that promotes improvement and enables them to actively avoid its risks. I have no doubt that this will become the prevailing approach, both because teachers are increasingly using AI themselves and because it will become evident that those who most improve education are those who train students well in its use.
Article translated from Periódico Educación
For 12 years, she worked as a special education teacher and inclusive education advisor in the Generalitat Valenciana. She is currently Associate Professor at the University of Valencia. Her research areas include Successful Educational Actions with diverse social groups and across different learning stages, teacher training, educational inclusion, and preventive socialization against gender-based violence.