AN OUTSIDER’S VIEW
Brian Ambrosio has dabbled with the usual platforms, but has just let AI wash over him, until he asked himself what exactly is going on in schools around the world?
A confession
I suspect I am not alone. I confess: I know ‘AI’ is there. I know it is being used in increasingly diverse ways (people talk a lot about medical applications). I know there are enthusiasts, and I know it is finding its way into education. But the other day, I realised I had no usefully organised conception of what was going on.
So – I sat down, did some (conventional) research and this is what I found. It was a useful exercise and as a result, I moved on from fear of the unknown to being able to engage in sensible conversations and to start asking some good questions. Not a big step, perhaps, but a useful one.
Uneven adoption
While some countries are choosing to focus on more traditional techniques such as teacher centred explicit teaching*, other countries are really getting organised to introduce AI and no surprises which ones – Singapore, South Korea and China. They are integrating AI into their education systems at scale.
But are these early adopters jumping the gun and moving too fast into an unknown world of potentially biased algorithms and threats of compromised data privacy or are the countries that are slow adopters getting left disastrously behind? My first good question.
What seem to be the benefits?
“AI in education” usually conjures up images of students using ChatGPT or other ‘generative’ (another word we hear a lot) tools to cheat on an assessment task. While schools and universities find ways to counter this misuse (?) of technology, AI is also being integrated into education in other ways which are interesting. This is what I found:
1. Student Personalised learning
AI adaptive learning systems are programmes that allow students to work individually in a range of subject areas. The programs are structured to be fully self-paced, generating activities and assessment tasks based on student progress. Thus, 25 students in a classroom could be working at 25 different levels all at once with the teacher able to receive immediate formative assessment for each student.
2. Generative AI tools
Generative AI tools have already found their way into the workplace and have many different functions. A student’s ability to understand how ChatGPT, for example, works, and how it can be used effectively, will enhance their chances of being relevant in the workplace in the 21st century in many roles.
3. Teacher curriculum, assessment, and administration
Teachers are using generative AI platforms to prepare innovative lessons, enabling more activities, better data analysis, the automation of grading and assessment as well as improving time efficiency on administrative tasks. There is real mileage here!
4. Wellbeing
In the not-too-distant future, the social welfare of students could also be enhanced. Hoffman & Reid (2025) suggest that work is now being undertaken whereby thousands of hours of transcripts and research data are being used to train a platform to be an AI therapist. They infer that one day, we might be able to subscribe monthly for therapeutical support in a similar way to getting our Netflix subscription. If proven to be successful, this could overcome the shortage of counselling support and of educational psychologists in schools.
Case studies
There are a large number of case studies to look at if you want to see how AI is being applied to education. Here are two – one from the USA and one from China:
Brownsville, Texas
A brief look into an AI future may be found in a small school in Brownsville, Texas. This school has adopted a daily 2-hour session of personalised AI at the beginning of the day, when students from Grade K – 8 work individually on their laptops in English, Math, Science and Social Studies. The programme adapts according to the progress demonstrated by the student. “Guides” (teachers) are there to support the students when required. After this 2-hour session, the rest of the day is spent on life skills where the students collaborate and work with their guides in a wide range of areas including financial literacy, entrepreneurship, writing competitions, environmental programmes, physical challenges, and public speaking. The school reports that the students are in the top 2% of test scores in the country, are highly motivated and love to come to school.
Badong County, China
In Central China, the small village of Baziyan has a primary school which struggles to find quality teachers. An AI adaptive learning system, Squirrel AI Learning was introduced which allowed students to have personalised learning with materials that are suited to each student. According to the school, within a month of using the system the students demonstrated significant improvement in their grades, engagement and confidence. Working at their own pace, with coaching from the teachers, has enabled students to make genuine progress.
Scepticism
While all of this sounds revolutionary and very exciting, it is not without its critics. The consensus that I am picking up in my brief review is that the implementation of AI is very much a work in process. People talk about the ‘hallucinations’ to which ChatGPT is prone, and there have been concerns raised that Personalised Learning Platforms could have some algorithmic biases depending on how it has been developed. The ability of adaptive learning programmes to handle uncertainty or conflicting evidence (for example in social studies) has been questioned. There are worries about data privacy.
Perhaps the models seen in Brownsville and Baziyan Village, which still involve significant human connection, have the built-in ‘guide rails’ required to help teachers and learners navigate safely and productively.
Pace of adoption
It’s easy to forget, the AI runners and riders have only been on the racecourse for just over two years in schools. How will this all play out in 5-10-20 years’ time? What is going to be best for our kids’ learning and development? Are the early adopters getting a huge jump on other countries, or are they the guinea pigs?
At the end of my self-imposed task, I realise I still have more questions than answers . . . but at least I am finding my way around!
Brian Ambrosio is a Senior Consultant with Consilium Education
Further reading
Elliot D, 2024, AI tutor China teaching gaps, Would Economic Forum, https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/07/ai-tutor-china-teaching-gaps/
Hoffman R & Beato G, 2025, Superagency: what could possibly go right with our AI future! Authors Equity
Millar RM, 2025, What Happens When Teachers Are Replaced With AI? This School Is Finding Out, Newsweek, https://www.newsweek.com/alpha-school-brownsville-ai-expanding-2063669
University of San Diego, 2025, 39 Examples of Artificial Intelligence in Education
FEATURE IMAGE: by Steve Johnson For Unsplash+
Support Image: by Galina Nelyubova For Unsplash+
* For Explicit Teaching see
