More and more teachers and students are using AI – even though it might do more harm than good

2026-03-18 · Source: Artificial intelligence (AI) – The Conversation · Field: Education & Learning — Educational Technology (EdTech), K-12 Education & Child Development, Educational Psychology & Learning Sciences · Depth: Intermediate, short

Summary

K-12 teachers and students are rapidly adopting AI, with 85% of teachers reporting AI use in 2024-2025, primarily for curriculum development. Student AI use is also high, with 26% of teens using ChatGPT for schoolwork in 2025, doubling from 13% in 2023, and 86% of K-12 students using AI generally. However, policy and training lag significantly, as only 35% of school districts provided AI training to students in 2025, and 45% of principals reported AI policies. Concerns include students using AI for mental health support, leading to harmful advice in some cases, and a lack of clear evidence on AI's influence on long-term learning outcomes. While AI shows promise for students with disabilities, with 57% of special education teachers using it for individualized education plans in 2025, broader research suggests potential risks like weakened academic skills and teacher-student relationships.

Key takeaway

For district leaders and curriculum developers evaluating AI integration, prioritize evidence-based implementation over rapid adoption. Your teams should focus on developing robust AI policies and providing comprehensive training for both students and teachers to mitigate risks like academic skill degradation and mental health dangers. Emphasize AI's proven benefits, such as supporting students with disabilities, while actively researching its long-term impact on learning outcomes before widespread deployment.

Key insights

Rapid AI adoption in K-12 education outpaces policy and evidence, raising concerns about safety and learning outcomes.

Principles

• Evidence-based adoption is crucial for new educational technologies.
• AI can personalize learning and reduce teacher workload.
• Unsupervised AI use poses risks to student well-being and academic skills.

In practice

• Use AI to adapt assignments for diverse learning needs.
• Employ AI for developing individualized education programs (IEPs).
• Utilize AI for grading and editing assignments to save teacher time.

Topics

• K-12 AI Adoption
• Educational AI Policy
• AI Learning Outcomes
• AI for Special Education
• Generative AI Risks

Best for: CTO, VP of Engineering/Data, Director of AI/ML, Policy Maker, Research Scientist, General Interest

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Artificial intelligence (AI) – The Conversation.