Governments Deploy A.I. Chatbots in Schools as Educators and Experts Urge Caution

Governments and tech companies are rolling out generative A.I. tools and training in schools worldwide, with recent deals including Microsoft in the United Arab Emirates, OpenAI’s ChatGPT Edu in Kazakhstan and xAI’s Grok tutoring project in El Salvador. Proponents say chatbots can save teachers time, personalize learning and help prepare students for an A.I.-driven economy by generating quizzes, lesson materials and code.

But children’s advocates, health groups and some researchers warn that rapid adoption carries risks: chatbots can produce authoritative-sounding errors, may encourage cheating and could erode students’ critical thinking. A study by Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University found that popular chatbots may diminish critical thinking.

UNICEF and other observers point to past technology rollouts that failed to improve outcomes, warning that unguided A.I. use could de-skill students and teachers. “With One Laptop per Child, the fallouts included wasted expenditure and poor learning outcomes,” wrote UNICEF digital policy specialist Steven Vosloo, urging more guidance.

In the United States, large districts have adopted chatbots for teaching and staff: Miami-Dade County rolled out Google’s Gemini for high school students, and Broward County introduced Microsoft’s Copilot for teachers and staff. Microsoft has also announced A.I. lessons and teacher training in Thailand, and OpenAI has pledged to make ChatGPT available to teachers in government schools in India.

Key Topics

AI, Education, Chatbots, Estonia, Iceland, Unicef, Teachers