Students outpace schools in classroom AI use

Nine in ten young people regularly use artificial intelligence for schoolwork, but fewer than one in five say they use it at a teacher’s request or under a teacher’s guidance, Swiss broadcaster SRF reported.

Students use AI for homework, group projects and presentations. Stefan Wolter, director of the Swiss Coordination Centre for Research in Education and an author of the study, said the technology offered a strong temptation to complete time-consuming tasks quickly instead of going through a demanding learning process.

Wolter said teachers needed to show students how to use AI without losing the ability to think for themselves.

Beat Schwendimann, head of the education department at the Swiss teachers’ association LCH, said schools recognised the issue but were struggling to keep pace with the rapid development of AI. The technology was spreading into many areas of life, making it difficult for schools to stay up to date and find enough time to address it in depth, he said.

Teachers were already facing growing demands, Schwendimann said. Training and continuing education should therefore show them how to use AI sensibly in lessons.

AI should support learning rather than replace it, he said. It could act as a sparring partner by asking students critical questions, identifying gaps in their knowledge and challenging them without providing the answers.

Schools also need clear rules on which tools they may use, particularly because of data protection concerns. Chatbot use can result in data being transferred to countries such as the United States or China.

A recent survey by LCH found that many schools lack clear guidelines. Schwendimann said a Swiss-based AI system subject to Swiss data protection rules would be desirable in the medium or long term. Germany already has an AI application developed specifically for schools, while Switzerland does not yet have a comparable solution.

The use of AI is likely to remain a major issue for schools, SRF reported.