With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), the education sector is undergoing unprecedented transformations. Whether in teaching methodologies, learning tools, or educational management, AI is profoundly reshaping traditional systems. While the potential for AI in education is immense, it also brings with it a host of challenges, particularly in ensuring student privacy and security, and in preventing the misuse of technology. This article explores how AI is impacting education, focusing on how we can build a safer and more effective future while ensuring students' protection in the digital realm.
Globally, AI applications are steadily permeating schools and educational institutions. Success stories from countries such as Australia and South Korea demonstrate how AI not only improves learning efficiency but also changes traditional teaching models. For example, some Australian states have developed large-scale educational assistants using Microsoft’s Azure datasets. These AI-driven tools create customized educational chatbots that collect data as students interact with them, providing personalized learning support. While this approach has significantly modernized education systems, it also raises concerns about data privacy and cybersecurity. Centralized data storage, although beneficial for creating targeted educational strategies, makes these systems prime targets for cyberattacks, thereby increasing risks to student information security. Balancing data sharing with privacy protection is becoming an urgent issue that must be addressed in education.
During the UN Education Conference in Paris, experts from around the world discussed AI's impact on education. The consensus was that, if used appropriately, AI could significantly enhance personalized learning, helping students to progress at their own pace and according to their individual interests.
Educational robots and smart platforms are already tailoring learning plans to students’ needs and adjusting content based on feedback. However, a key takeaway from the conference was the crucial role that AI model training plays in shaping educational outcomes. For instance, Mistral AI’s multilingual model emphasized the importance of training AI to work with diverse languages rather than simply translating English-language data.
This approach underscores how subtle differences in data and training techniques can drastically affect educational results. Education systems worldwide must choose the best tools suited to their students’ needs, rather than rushing into adopting technologies that may not align with their values or educational goals.
However, the use of AI in education is not just a matter of technical innovation; it also raises significant ethical and societal concerns. One notable issue is the disconnect between policymakers and educators. Despite UNESCO's comprehensive guidelines for AI in education, a gap exists between the policymakers who design the rules and the educators who are actually implementing these tools. Many teachers are already adept at using AI tools, while policymakers remain unfamiliar with even basic applications such as Microsoft Copilot Studio or Google’s educational chatbots.
This gap in understanding leads to missed opportunities for improving education through AI, as policymakers often rely on academic studies and statistical research rather than the practical knowledge of those working directly with students. To bridge this gap, more opportunities for collaboration between educators and governments are essential.
Another significant issue highlighted at the conference was the rise of deepfake technology. In countries such as South Korea and the UK, students have started to generate deepfakes of their peers and teachers, using this technology to create misleading videos and images. This trend has raised alarms in the education sector, particularly regarding the psychological and ethical implications for students.
To address this, some schools have started creating deepfake videos of their own headteachers, showing students the potential risks and harms of such technology. While this innovative approach may raise awareness, it also reflects the lag in global education systems when it comes to tackling emerging technologies.
As AI becomes more integrated into education, concerns about data security and privacy continue to grow. With many educational institutions now using cloud computing, there are significant concerns about how data—particularly personal, emotional, and social information—will be used and protected.
Companies like Microsoft claim that they do not use student data for purposes other than educational support, and explicitly state that this data is not shared with their partner companies, such as OpenAI. However, with organizations like Google offering unclear explanations about how they store and manage education data, questions about transparency and accountability remain.
More crucially, the growing concern is how personalized AI tools might be altering students’ worldviews. The more tailored these AI systems become, the more prone they are to reinforcing biases and shaping perceptions in potentially harmful ways.
Furthermore, the widespread use of generative AI tools by young people, such as Snapchat’s “My AI,” has raised alarms in the educational community. With over 150 million users, most of whom are young people from the US and the UK, this tool poses significant privacy and safety risks.
Studies show that students are increasingly using AI tools like ChatGPT in educational settings, yet without the robust data protection measures that certain organizations offer. The lack of content filters, data privacy controls, and clear safeguards raises critical concerns for educators, parents, and policymakers.
To address these risks, there needs to be stronger regulation, as well as digital safety education for students, alongside active consultation with parents. Companies must be held accountable for ensuring that children are not exposed to AI tools without adequate protections in place.
Despite the challenges, the integration of AI into education presents an opportunity to reimagine curricula for the future. With AI’s growing role in shaping the job market, the question arises: what should we be teaching young people today?
Many educational experts agree that curricula need to shift away from a sole focus on economic growth, which has historically dominated educational agendas, and instead focus on helping students develop a broad set of skills. UNESCO’s “Skills for the 21st Century” framework emphasizes the importance of teaching emotional intelligence, citizenship, innovation, and collaboration—skills that will be vital for future success.
One example of this in practice is the “Skills for Tomorrow” course launched at Clifton High School in the UK, which is designed to equip students with these competencies while also teaching them about AI. This approach offers a proof-of-concept for schools around the world to replicate, helping them prepare students for the demands of the 21st century.
However, there is a stark contrast between developed and developing nations when it comes to access to these technologies. With nearly 2.9 billion people still without internet access, many students in less developed regions are left behind when it comes to learning how to use AI tools.
At the UN conference, some promising initiatives were presented, such as the AU Continental Strategy for Africa, which aims to leverage AI to advance education on the continent. With over 70% of Africa’s population under 30, there is a significant opportunity to harness the region’s youthful population to drive innovation in AI and education.
Nevertheless, as noted by Everisto Benyera in his report on the “Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Recolonization of Africa,” there are risks that these initiatives could be co-opted by multinational tech companies, leading to data and employment colonization, where power and resources are unevenly distributed.
As AI becomes more integrated into education, addressing the risks and challenges it presents is critical. Governments, educational institutions, and tech companies must work together to create a framework that ensures AI’s safe and ethical use in education.
Effective legislation, such as the EU’s AI Act, which builds on the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is a step in the right direction, ensuring that safety is prioritized in AI testing and that children’s data is protected. However, for companies that continue to prioritize growth over safety, it is crucial that they realign their values to put user protection at the forefront of their design processes.
The future of education in the age of AI holds immense promise, but it also requires careful governance, transparency, and collaboration to ensure that it truly benefits all students. Only by balancing innovation with responsibility can AI become a tool for good in education and help create a safer, more equitable learning environment for the next generation.