Artificial Intelligence (AI) in schools: guidelines and guardrails

Introduction

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is playing an increasing role across Scottish society, influencing industry, healthcare, public services, and education. In 2021, Scotland’s AI Strategy launched with the ambition of making Scotland a leader in the development and adoption of trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI.

AI, when applied in line with teacher professional standards and professional judgement, has the potential to help teachers identify and address learning gaps and further tailor their teaching to meet the diverse needs of their pupils. AI also has the potential to contribute to a reduction in teacher workload by quickly progressing routine and administrative tasks. This would allow teachers more time to focus on what they do best: planning, preparing, teaching and assessing high-quality lessons; while fostering empathy, intuition, and meaningful human connection. These are qualities that technology cannot replicate and within the context of an AI-enabled education system the role of teachers as leaders of learning, exercising professional judgement and skills in a human-centred system, will remain fundamentally unchanged.

Just as AI presents opportunities in education, it can also present significant risks for both educators and pupils. These risks include breaches of data protection, amplification of algorithmic bias, and over-reliance on AI that may undermine professional judgement or present with human-like traits (anthropomorphism). Moreover, the proliferation of AI applications in recent years means that children, young people and teachers have easy access to such technologies but may lack the understanding of if, when, and how it can be used responsibly and ethically in an educational context. A further consideration for schools and local authorities is that AI-enabled educational tools can be of variable efficacy. These products and tools, and the companies who develop them, must be evaluated to ensure they uphold the rights of pupils and staff and align with the ethical standards of schools. Local authorities, as the data controllers, also have legal responsibilities to ensure applications and technologies meet data protection requirements.

With evidence on the impact of AI in education continuing to emerge, it will be necessary for government at all levels and the education sector, including education trade unions, to work together to evaluate the benefits and risks of AI as they become clearer. Increasingly, it will be necessary for local authorities to support teachers, pupils and other users to become involved in the research and co-design of AI-enabled educational tools.