This is not about integrating AI into education — it’s about educating in an AI-driven world.

Last week I attended the Future-Ready Education: AI Integration Strategies discussion at AstroLabs AE. Experts from education, technology and ethics were looking not at “AI adoption,” but at how the role of teachers, students and humans changes in the AI era — and what we should teach in this new context.

Here are a few points I noted.

Current state

Practical use of AI in schools is much lower than it seems. The “50% of teachers already use AI” figures are overstated. Most still don’t understand how to apply these tools. Teachers with 15–20 years of experience often don’t see a reason to change what already works. AI helps with routine tasks — grading, feedback, error analysis — but scoring remains inconsistent. Engagement matters more than access.

Trust and maturity

Models evolve too quickly to rely on them blindly. Ethical frameworks — FAIR, NIST, GDPR and others — exist, but in practice implementation goes “bottom-up”: tools first, reflection later. The main risk is losing control over data quality and shifting moral baselines.

“Digital plastic”

One term that came up was digital plastic: when models learn from their own generated content, the digital environment gradually distorts.

Role of the teacher

AI enhances teachers but doesn’t replace them. The teacher of the future is not a transmitter of knowledge but a facilitator, motivator and meaning-maker. AI can highlight where the gaps are, but the decisions remain with the teacher.

Taste and context

AI has no taste. If a child doesn’t know what the Renaissance is, they can’t create something “in the style of the Renaissance” — even with Midjourney. Education is not only about AI skills; it’s also about cultural context, aesthetics and critical thinking.

Future models

AI is the environment. The one-size-fits-all model is fading; “pick-and-mix” formats are emerging, with different approaches for different students and communities. Each school will find its own balance between technology, culture and human factors.

Challenges for parents and children

Parents need to understand what their kids use — from ChatGPT to Comet — and be able to read privacy policies. Basic AI literacy means understanding model biases, distinguishing human vs. machine output, and verifying facts. AI has only accelerated the long-standing question: what counts as truth?

One phrase I liked: “Belief in children’s dreams should be built into every technology platform.”

AI can amplify knowledge, but dreams and motivation remain human.