Artificial Intelligence has been in the spotlight more than ever. In a recent statement, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said, “Advances in AI will define the decade to come. This will bring extraordinary opportunities… I believe that we must fully embrace our role as insurgents in this revolution if our economy is to grow and our people are to prosper.”
This more proactive stance reflects the rapid pace at which AI is evolving and becoming integrated into our daily lives. There are undeniable benefits: productivity is increasing, creativity is expanding and tasks once thought too complex are now being automated. Whether in business, public services or education, AI is reshaping the way we work and live.
But with these opportunities come risks. Sir Keir’s message contrasts with that of the previous government, which placed greater emphasis on the dangers of unchecked AI. Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cautioned that AI development should not be left to the private sector alone, warning that companies should not be allowed to “mark their own homework.” These concerns are valid. Only recently, Apple paused its AI news summaries after several high-profile errors. Inaccuracies like these raise serious questions about the reliability of AI-generated content, especially given society’s increasing dependence on digital media and social platforms. Ethical issues such as bias, privacy and copyright also remain unresolved.
In education, the impact of AI is already being felt. Understandably, many are asking how learning can be meaningfully assessed if students can use tools like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot to generate their work. How can teachers know what students understand if the submitted work isn’t their own? These questions also extend to exam boards and OFQUAL, particularly around non-examined assessments. AI detection tools are currently less reliable than traditional plagiarism software, making this an increasingly complex issue.
While these wider discussions are ongoing, at Kingsley we recognise that AI is here to stay and will shape the world our students are growing up in. It’s our responsibility to ensure they’re equipped to navigate it confidently and ethically. Students need to understand what AI is, how it functions, how to use it effectively and the moral considerations that come with it. Across our Foundation, we are working hard to incorporate the responsible use of AI into the curriculum, both to harness its educational benefits and to address its challenges.
This also brings us to an important question: if AI can do so much, why do we still need schools? It’s a familiar debate, not dissimilar to the questions raised when internet search engines first arrived. The vast knowledge available online didn’t make schools obsolete then and AI doesn’t now. At the heart of the matter is the importance of knowing and understanding.
Educational psychologists point out that our learning depends on connecting new ideas to what we already know. The more we learn, the more connections we make, creating a network of understanding that allows us to reason, judge and solve problems. Our brains are designed to use past experiences to tackle new challenges. AI can retrieve facts quickly, but it can’t reason, contextualise or judge in the way humans can. We still need to learn in order to think.
This point is especially relevant when considering how AI tools like ChatGPT are developed. The model was trained on vast amounts of text from the internet, learning how words and phrases are commonly used together. Initially, the sentences it produced didn’t make sense. It was human reviewers who refined the model, correcting its responses and helping it to ‘learn’ context. Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT has continued to develop, but ultimately, it’s still generating words based on patterns, not understanding. The recent issues with Apple AI’s news summaries are a reminder of this limitation. Even when sentences sound coherent, they don’t always reflect accurate or well-reasoned information. That critical thinking is still very much our domain.
In this way, AI becomes a tool to assist learning, similar to a highly advanced search engine. It can summarise academic views, provide a springboard for creative projects, or tailor revision to help students focus on particular areas. But it doesn’t replace the need to learn, think or understand.
At Kingsley, we are continuing to explore how to integrate AI education meaningfully and responsibly. Alongside PSHE and ICT lessons, where pupils already learn to evaluate digital information, we are now introducing dedicated sessions on AI. Year 8 students will soon take part in a new series of lessons as part of their Pathfinder curriculum, where they will explore how AI works, how it was developed, how to use it effectively and most importantly, how to use it ethically. This exciting new programme will lay strong foundations for students as they continue to engage with this technology in years to come.
AI is already shaping the world beyond the school gates and our role is to help students become informed, responsible participants in this revolution. We’re not ignoring the risks, but nor are we shying away from the possibilities. By teaching students how to understand, evaluate and use AI tools wisely, we are preparing them for a future in which human judgement, integrity and curiosity remain just as important as ever.
Article by Peter Bucknall – Deputy Head (Academic)
