When we accept, as the Department of Education has, that students will use this technology to complete coursework, we are inviting into our education system a resource that enables cheating. Some of the lesser-flagged issues are worth elucidating, such as the educator’s use of it and the doublespeak around the aims of our education system. In England, the department of education has said that teachers can use artificial intelligence for “low-stakes” grading, guidance that education secretary Bridget Phillipson said “cut workloads” for teachers. Have we considered the consequences of using artificial intelligence to grade students’ work, and canvassed our students’ views on their teachers using AI to generate either grades, feedback or both? Ultimately, AI is a threat to what we purport to see as the essence of education: the development of independent-minded and creative thinkers.

Source: The Irish Times March 18, 2026 06:08 UTC