More than 60 percent of teachers report using artificial intelligence (AI) and those who do largely believe that it has made them more productive despite also citing concerns about the impact of AI on students’ critical thinking, according to an NPR/Ipsos poll released in June.
In a survey of 545 K-12 teachers, researchers identified several trends, including:
- Fifty-five percent view AI largely as a shortcut for students to avoid doing more work while 54 percent say it’s impacting students’ ability to learn to think critically. Nearly 60 percent of teachers surveyed believe that AI is eroding the level of trust between students and teachers, and 57 percent say it’s making it harder to assess students’ level of knowledge. As a result, about 40 percent report requiring more assignments to be done either by hand or in class.
- Teachers say their own use of AI is largely to create classroom materials (69 percent) and write or plan lessons (52 percent), tackle administrative tasks (42 percent) and communicate with parents or write reports (41 percent). Of those who report using AI, 69 percent say it has made them more productive and efficient while 29 percent say it has had no impact.
- Close to 80 percent of teachers say responsible AI use should be taught as part of their school’s curriculum, but more than half say their school has not offered guidance on AI or that they are not sure what the guidance is. Even formal policies around AI-use are limited, according to survey results. Just 33 percent of teachers say their school has a formal policy on student use of AI and 23 percent say the same of teacher use of AI.
Compared to past technological advances, 74 percent of educators say AI is having bigger implications on K-12 education. Almost half of respondents say AI has had a mix of positive and negative impacts, while 40 percent say its impact has been negative and 9 percent say it has been positive. Researchers noted that those who teach high school (grades 9-12) are more likely than those who teach elementary school (grades K-5) to view AI’s impact on education as negative (47 percent compared to 32 percent).
