AI in schools – The choice we keep making

Throughout history, new technologies like television, online courses, and now AI have been pitched to schools as cost-effective solutions, but they consistently fail to replace the core value of skilled teachers working closely with students. While technology has successfully reduced costs in other industries, education fundamentally resists automation because what works—a caring adult guiding a small group of kids—cannot be made cheaper without becoming worse. Schools face the recurring choice between listening to technology vendors promising disruption or trusting teachers about what actually works in classrooms.