Should we ban AI in the classroom, embrace it, or adapt our education to it?

It is a question we have heard increasingly often in recent months from school leaders, administrators, and teachers:
“What should we do with AI in education?”
Should we ban it, embrace it, or fundamentally adapt our education to it?

It is not a new fear. In the 1960s, mathematics teachers took to the streets to protest against the calculator.
They feared that students would no longer learn mental arithmetic,
and that their profession would become obsolete.

We now know how that ended: the calculator did not make the teacher less relevant,
but more important.
And that history is repeating itself now only today's calculator is called AI.

1. Knowledge remains the foundation especially in an AI era

There is a persistent misunderstanding that AI makes knowledge redundant.
Why bother learning if ChatGPT can provide every answer?

But those who work with AI know the opposite is true.
AI generates language based on probability, not understanding.
Without your own knowledge, you cannot judge whether an answer is correct, logical, or contextually appropriate.

Scientific studies demonstrate this.
In experiments where people without experience used AI for complex tasks -
such as drafting contracts or building websites -
the results often led to errors and inaccuracies.
In contrast, participants with domain-specific knowledge produced much better output using AI.

Knowledge is therefore not baggage, but fuel.
AI does not make knowledge redundant; it amplifies its value.

2. New skills will become decisive

According to research by the World Bank, the most important skills of the future are shifting toward:

• Critical thinking
• Adaptability
• Empathy

This is no coincidence.
As AI can take over more cognitive work,
human judgment becomes more important.

Education must therefore not only teach students how to use AI,
but primarily how to think about it.
How do you recognize bias in a text?
How do you assess if a source is correct?
How do you build upon an idea generated by AI?

In other words: we must teach students to reflect on knowledge,
not just reproduce knowledge.

We are moving from knowing → to understanding → to questioning.
And that requires a different pedagogy, where technology is a tool,
but human thinking remains the starting point.

3. AI as an amplifier of human potential

AI is not a threat, but a powerful amplifier of human potential.

In Nigeria, recent research was conducted on AI homework tutoring.
Students who received help with their assignments via ChatGPT
developed their skills six times faster than the control group.
Not because the technology did the work for them,
but because they received immediate feedback, explanation, and encouragement.

AI also offers enormous opportunities for teachers.
It can assist in preparing lessons, generating examples,
or tailoring explanations to a student’s level.
Teachers can use AI as a didactic sparring partner -
a tool that supports, inspires, and frees up time for what education is truly about:
personal attention, curiosity, and growth.

Or as an artist recently showed by bringing historical paintings to life with AI:
technology can enhance stories, not replace them.

Learning, unlearning, and relearning

The famous futurist Alvin Toffler once said:

“The illiterate of the future will not be those who cannot read or write,
but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”

That statement is more relevant today than ever.
The future of education lies not in avoiding technology,
but in learning how technology can work for us.

The challenge for education is therefore not whether we use AI,
but how we deploy it in a responsible, human, and valuable way.

AI challenges us to reinvent education -
not by abolishing knowledge, but by deepening learning.

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Watch this video we recorded on behalf of the VO-raad (Council for Secondary Education):

// About the author

Job van den Berg

Mede-oprichter, AI Keynote Spreker & Techondernemer

Tech-ondernemer (1989) met een achtergrond als socioloog (Research Master (MSc) in statistiek en sociologie) en een van de meest gevraagde keynote sprekers over AI en data in Nederland. Als mede-oprichter van Ai.nl, The Automation Group en Proxies leidt hij engineers die agentic AI van prototype naar productie brengen binnen enterprises. Op het podium vertaalt Job die hands-on praktijk naar concrete strategieën. Eerder was Job Chief Data bij o.a. DPG Media en Kantar. Hij is co-auteur van 5 boeken over AI waaronder 'AI Agents' en 'Handboek AI Strategie' en een veelgevraagd expert in de landelijke media.

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