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AI, defined as any tool trained on massive datasets and capable of creating new content, has been rapidly changing our digital, economic and social landscape. Although AI has been around for years, its applications have been very limited up until a few years ago.
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Now, AI has evolved to be more functional, and ultra-accessible through the release of programs such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Gemini. Given its newfound accessibility, AI has impacted almost every industry, and it has been both praised and denigrated.
Some say the technology will make our lives more comfortable and efficient, while others raise concerns over aspects like its environmental footprint, the ethics of sourcing the large datasets required to train it, and its wider impacts on society.
AI is making a significant impact on the education sector. This year, the UNESCO International Day of Education was themed around AI. Always early adopters, our young people, who are often seen as digitally fluent, were some of the first to take up AI when it began to gain traction in early 2023.
Early news stories on AI in education were focused on students’ inappropriate use of the technology. Students using AI to generate assignments still regularly make the headlines, but nowadays the conversation has moved on to acknowledge that as we move into the future, AI must find its place in education.
Educators and researchers have begun using AI in the classroom as well as exploring its potential for the future. Could AI create lessons, mark work, and even become a personal tutor? Perhaps more importantly—should it?
One of the central concerns around AI in education is how quickly it is being adopted in classrooms without strong frameworks and guidance in place for its use. Official guidelines from the Ministry of Education and New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) were provided to schools in 2023, and schools continue to grapple with instituting their own policies around the technology.
Current guidance from the Ministry of Education outlines what educators should think about when using AI. These include:
Schools who assess listed standards are also required to include a section on the use of AI in their mandatory authenticity policy. The Ministry suggests thinking about how assessment policy can promote academic integrity, and what the school’s responsibilities are in ensuring academic integrity.
“It is best to adopt a practical, educative approach to AI and its uses,” reads official guidance. Policy should include:
AI policies should include guidance on using AI as a source of information or study tool, and how it should be acknowledged in referencing if used.
Both the Ministry of Education and NZQA have additional guidelines around using AI in assessment practices.
NZQA’s school relationship managers are available to support schools and kura with developing or modifying their AI policy. NZQA recommends schools implement an education program on academic integrity, acknowledging sources, referencing, and a warning on bias and inaccuracies that AI is prone to.
NZQA also offers guidance for kaiako on structuring assessment to ensure authenticity and discourage inappropriate use of AI. Some ways kaiako can structure assessments to encourage authenticity include:
While there may be scope for some appropriate use of AI when submitting internal assessments, NZQA notes that all AI is not allowed for external assessments and should not be submitted as part of the candidate’s marked work.
The Ministry of Education has stated it will be updating its guidance to schools and teachers around AI in school policy, assessment authenticity, and NCEA.
Another way to empower appropriate use of AI is to educate students on the technology. The upcoming refreshed technology learning area in the NZC includes teaching and learning about AI—its whakapapa, processes, potentials for bias, risks, benefits and opportunities, and ethical considerations. This updated learning area will be compulsory by 2027.
Research is ongoing about AI use in primary schools, and its ethical considerations. The Ministry of Education has indicated this research will be used to develop further guidance and resources for primary schools.
While schools are fine-tuning their policies on the technology, and the education field at large grapples with the implications of AI, students and staff alike are already utilising available AI tools. AI features are now almost unavoidable, and they are offered on a variety of platforms from Canva to Kahoot. Both educators and students across Aotearoa report engaging with AI in a variety of ways.
In a self-reported survey from 2024, more than 60 percent of young Australians reported using AI to help with schoolwork. In New Zealand, AI use is likely also high, with one Auckland English teacher reporting one in five students were misusing the technology for assignments.
But teachers also report more positive instances of students engaging with AI, such as using it as a study tool to reword complex concepts or gather resources for use.
Teachers, meanwhile, also self-report using AI across many tasks.
Pauline Cleaver, acting hautū (leader) Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education, said: “Small ad hoc research projects indicate that growing numbers of teachers are using AI for such things as lesson planning, resource generation, and administrative tasks. However, some educators remain cautious due to knowledge gaps about AI technology”
Some educators report using the technology to create individualised units of work tailored to student interest. Others are creating AI tools trained on NCEA marking rubrics to provide students with instant feedback.
As AI becomes more accessible, educators and innovators are looking for new ways to deploy the technology. In education, there has been hope that AI will be an equaliser, helping to improve access.
But there are also pitfalls. AI is trained on biased data, and as a result often provides culturally biased insights. There is also the chance AI may entrench inequity by virtue of unequal access—New Zealand’s current digital divide may one day be translated into an AI divide. In the New Zealand context, AI raises questions of data sovereignty, and the technology often demonstrates cultural bias.
“We know that AI in education poses significant challenges for education that cannot be ignored,” said Ms Cleaver.
“These include algorithmic bias, which risks reinforcing existing inequities if AI systems are not intentionally designed to be inclusive; privacy issues related to the collection and use of student data; Māori data sovereignty, for example, raises critical issues about the ownership, control, and governance of data relating to Māori individuals, communities, and resources, emphasising the need for culturally appropriate data practices that align with te ao Māori values and principles such as kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and rangatiratanga (self-determination).”
Current guidelines provide some help on mitigating these risks around AI, Ms Cleaver said, though more guidelines are in progress, with MoE paying close attention to guidelines being developed by global organisations like OECD and UNESCO.
However, there is also potential for a future where AI is deployed equitably and thoughtfully, mitigating these risks and potential pitfalls. Now, the conversation has turned toward using AI to create hybrid intelligence systems in education.
Hybrid intelligence is a model which combines AI with natural intelligence (NI). Natural intelligence is defined as the human aspects of cognition: emotional and ethical understanding, as well as group dynamics and social norms. Empathy and innovation are key aspects of NI.
Through a hybrid intelligence framework, teaching could evolve into a mentoring and facilitating role. This model understands and recognises AI’s limitations and prioritises the social, cultural and emotional roles of our education system.
Ms Cleaver noted the Ministry of Education’s guidelines fall within the scope of hybrid intelligence frameworks.
“The role of AI in education must be to enhance teaching and learning and provide assistance to knowledgeable and skilled teachers. With the human-in-the-loop, AI and Gen AI have significant potential to support the acceleration of learning, formative assessment and feedback, data analysis and monitoring of student progress, and even credentialling, as well as supporting teachers with administrative tasks. However, human teachers must remain central in forming educative relationships with students.”
Executive Director at the AI Researchers Association, Jannat Maqbool, said the way schools and policymakers manage and implement the technology can go a long way toward mitigating negative outcomes and promoting positive ones.
“If AI is used as a supportive tool—rather than a replacement—teachers and students can maintain strong relationships,” said Mr Maqbool.
In the ideal scenario, AI could lead to a future of personalised learning, language and cultural inclusion, ethical data use and the evolution of teachers to become facilitators.
In this future, “each student’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests inform individualised lessons, projects, and challenges. Teachers can spend more one-on-one time addressing unique needs.
“AI translation and speech tools, when designed correctly and with the right models and input data help students from diverse language backgrounds fully participate. Strict privacy policies keep student data safe, and transparent AI systems ensure fair treatment for all learners. Educators guide critical thinking and creativity, using AI-based analytics to spot when a child is struggling or excelling. Teachers are empowered by the tool.”
However, in the worst case, teachers could become supervisors of screens rather than educators, and students lose out on socioemotional development and connection. Without proper oversight, learning could become dull and repetitive, with AI replacing teacher input and creativity. There is also the chance that poor privacy regulations expose sensitive student data.
To fully realise the potential of AI in education, Mr Maqbool said schools and educators should value student-teacher bonds, check for biases (who created this AI tool and what data has it been trained on?), prioritise data privacy by having clear policies on data storage, access and deletion, and maintain equity through overseeing student access to technology and the internet.
Finally, schools should invest in professional development.
“Provide training for teachers so they feel confident using AI and understanding its capabilities as well as its limits,” Mr Maqbool said.
With careful thought and robust frameworks, AI may revolutionise the way we teach and learn for the better.
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