Should we ban AI in the classroom, embrace it, or adapt our teaching accordingly?

It's a question we've been hearing more and more from school leaders, administrators and teachers in recent months:
“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, math 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 didn't make the lecturer less relevant,
but more important.
And that history is repeating itself now — only today's calculator is called AI.

1. Knowledge remains the basis — especially in the age of AI

There is a persistent misconception that AI makes knowledge obsolete.
Why learn when ChatGPT can provide any answer?

But those who work with AI know that 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 show that.
In experiments where people with no experience use AI for complex tasks —
such as writing contracts or building websites —
the results often led to errors and inaccuracies.
The participants with professional knowledge produced, on the other hand much better output with the help of AI.

Knowledge is therefore not ballast, but fuel.
AI doesn't make knowledge obsolete, but reinforces its value.

2. New skills are becoming crucial

According to research by the World Bank shift the most important skills of the future to:

• Critical thinking skills
• Adaptability
• Empathy

That is no coincidence.
Now that AI can take over more and more cognitive work,
In fact, human judgment is becoming more important.

Education should therefore not teach students alone how they can use AI,
but above all how they think about it.
How do you recognize bias in a text?
How do you assess whether a source is correct?
How do you build on an idea that generates AI?

In other words: we need to teach students reflecting on knowledge,
not alone reproducing knowledge.

We go from knowing → to understanding → to questioning.
And that requires a different didactics, in which technology is a tool,
but human thinking remains the starting point.

3. AI as an enhancer of human potential

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

In Nigeria, research has recently been carried out into AI homework guidance.
Students who received help with their assignments via ChatGPT,
developed their skills six times faster than the control group.
Not because technology did the work for them,
but because they received immediate feedback, explanation and incentive.

AI also offers enormous opportunities for teachers.
It can help prepare lessons, generate examples,
or adapting explanations to the 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 really about:
personal attention, curiosity and growth.

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

Learn, unlearn and relearn

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.”

Today, that statement is more relevant than ever.
The future of education does not lie in avoiding technology,
but in learning how technology can work for us.

So the challenge for education is not whether we use AI,
but how we use 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 that we shot on behalf of the VO Council: