Tool, Not Teacher: Resisting the Push to Outsource Education to AI

 

While technology can be a powerful tool in the classroom, the core of education remains the human connection between teacher and student.

A recent Chalkbeat article by Timothy Cook, a third-grade teacher, raises important questions about the role of artificial intelligence in education. Cook argues that while AI can be a useful tool for administrative tasks, we must be cautious about outsourcing the core, human-centered work of teaching.

The author expresses concern that the current push to train educators on AI focuses too much on the "product of teaching over the process of learning." He believes that true education is about fostering curiosity, inquiry, and a love of learning in students, not just producing polished final products. When the process of learning is valued, students are more likely to be intrinsically motivated and less likely to seek shortcuts, whether through AI or other means.

Cook shares a powerful story about a student who, through his own messy and self-directed experimentation with a catapult project, discovered fundamental principles of physics. This, Cook argues, is the kind of deep, authentic learning that we should be striving for in our classrooms.

Ultimately, the author contends that teacher training should focus on developing educators who can facilitate human connection, model intellectual courage, and guide students through the messy but rewarding process of discovery.

This blog post was generated with the assistance of AI.

Read the original article by Timothy Cook here:

https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/08/11/in-training-educators-to-use-ai-we-must-not-outsource-the-foundational-work-of-teaching/