Rethinking AI in Education: From Efficiency Tool to Interactive Learning Partner

Embracing AI: A Tool for Transformation in Education

Like it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a major tool in education. Just last week, the Department for Education launched guidance for schools and colleges in England, outlining how teachers can safely incorporate generative AI into their classrooms. This initiative suggests that AI can significantly reduce the time educators spend on administrative tasks—like drafting letters and reports—allowing them more time for face-to-face interaction with students.

Championing AI as a workload savior aligns with its growing adoption in businesses, where the primary goal is efficiency. When inputs are phrased just right, AI can produce polished, cohesive responses almost instantly, which is a boon for workplace productivity and might also streamline teacher administration. However, in the context of education, we can do much better.

A New Mindset for AI

The suggestion that educators use AI merely to draft mundane communications, such as letters about head lice outbreaks, overlooks the profound educational potential of generative AI. Moving beyond one-way interactions, we should strive for a two-way dialogue that teaches students to engage with AI in a meaningful way.

Research about learning supports this shift. In 1984, educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom highlighted that one-on-one tutoring is far more effective than traditional group instruction. A key reason for this is the importance of two-way communication. Effective learning isn’t just about receiving information; it’s an interactive loop where messages are sent, received, clarified, and refined until comprehension is achieved.

Bloom considered this a “problem,” as most learning tools historically facilitate one-way communication. From textbooks to search engines, they typically provide answers while failing to check for understanding. This challenge is further exacerbated in classrooms, where delivering individualized feedback can be difficult.

AI holds the potential to address these issues, but we need to alter how we engage with it.

Unlearning Old Habits

We must unlearn the technological habits we’ve grown accustomed to. Communicating with an AI chatbot differs fundamentally from using a search engine or a voice assistant. We’ve been trained to pose questions to AI and either accept the given answer or critique its shortcomings. However, the reality is that in 2025, AI chatbots don’t generate poor answers; they simply offer incomplete ones. Often, subpar output arises when users disengage before a comprehensive dialogue has taken place.

Instead of aiming to extract neatly packaged answers, I treat AI as a conversational partner. This involves saying things like:

• “Here’s what I understand. Am I right?”
• “Ask me five questions to test my grasp of the material, then point out where I went wrong.”
• “Listen to my argument and indicate where I might be biased.”

This approach transforms AI from a static answer generator into a dynamic feedback tool.

Moving Beyond Efficiency to Effectiveness

While efficiency is valuable, my objective is to become more effective, which requires viewing AI not as a productivity tool but as a personal tutor. Does this make AI infallible? Of course not. However, its performance in educational contexts is already impressive and improving rapidly.

Given AI’s imperfections, it’s crucial that educators engage with it thoughtfully. If the trajectory of generative AI is guided solely by business leaders and policymakers, it risks failing to serve learners effectively. Teachers—who are the experts in learning—are uniquely positioned to identify bias, correct errors, and show students how to harness AI meaningfully. This isn’t merely about upholding academic integrity; it’s about leveraging AI to genuinely enhance the learning experience.

The way we conceptualize AI in education is still evolving. If we allow others to define its purpose, it may devolve into just another tool for convenience. However, when guided by educators, AI can facilitate personalized, interactive learning experiences for every student.

Education has always been shaped by those who understand learning best: teachers. In this new era of AI integration, we should ensure that its application in education follows suit.

Jack Dougall is a humanities and business teacher at The British School of Gran Canaria. As we continue to navigate the integration of AI into education, it’s crucial to remember that the ultimate goal is to enrich the learning journey for all students.