Teaching is not about competing with technology. INTERVIEW | Why AI will never replace teachers Evgenia Kleshcheva Culture and education
As artificial intelligence penetrates deeper into educational systems, the question becomes more pressing: does it improve the quality of learning – or undermine the learning process and threaten the well-being of the future generation?
In an interview with UN News Service ahead of International Education Day on January 24, Shafika Isaacs, head of UNESCO’s Section on Technology and AI in Education, stressed that the organization’s mission is not to promote technology for its own sake, but to develop education systems that benefit all people. UNESCO acts as a global coordinator, normative reference and capacity-building institute, working with 194 Member States, more than 1,200 research chairs and a wide network of partners. Through forums such as Digital Learning Week and publications including the Guidance Note on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, the organization is shaping global discourse around human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Myths about AI in education
According to Isaacs, the conversation around AI in education is largely shaped by a number of myths that jeopardize the future of learning.
- The myth of teacher replacement class=”notranslate”>__GTAG11__
“AI can control data transmission, but it is not capable of managing human development. Education is at its core a social, human and cultural process, not a technical download of data,” she emphasized.
The idea that AI can replace teachers, Isaacs added, is a “fundamental mistake.” Reducing the role of the teacher to that of a data administrator undermines the very foundation of learning.
Instead of focusing solely on technology, UNESCO is emphasizing the need to invest in teachers – including the 44 million teachers the world estimates the world will need by 2030.
- The myth of personalization class=”notranslate”>__GTAG7__
What is often called AI-powered personalization of learning is actually “standardized personalization”—a student alone in front of a screen following an algorithmic route.
True learning, Isaacs emphasizes, is social in nature. It should develop critical thinking, creativity, ethical principles and the ability to build relationships with other people and the environment.
- The myth of speed
“In the dominant debate about AI, success is measured by how quickly a student finds the correct answer. But in education, speed is often the enemy of depth. It is believed that effortless learning is better. What students really need is cognitive effort, a slow and complex process of critical thinking,” she said.
Where AI can really help
class=”notranslate”>__GTAG5__ According to the UNESCO representative, the world needs to avoid the so-called “efficiency trap”, when learning outcomes are assessed solely by test scores. Instead, AI, she says, offers the opportunity to “rethink the very nature of the learning process.”
AI can act as a Socratic, critical assistant , encouraging students to think and find solutions rather than using ready-made answers. This approach underpins the AI Competency Framework for teachers and students.
Technologies can also expand linguistic and cognitive inclusivity . Locally developed models can promote the preservation and development of indigenous and marginalized languages and provide targeted support for neurodiverse students.
In addition, AI can serve as an early warning system to identify students who may be forced to drop out of school for any reason – provided that the algorithms do not reinforce bias based on class, race, gender or geography.
Main risks
Isaacs identifies three key threats.
- Cognitive unloading
The point is that more and more children and adult learners are using AI to perform the most complex mental work. This, according to Isaacs, threatens to create a generation that can generate texts but is incapable of deep critical thinking.
- Algorithmic bias and loss of data sovereignty “Without community-owned and culturally relevant AI systems, we are effectively handing over the operating system of our children’s thinking to a few tech companies,” she warned.
The risk of loss of control over the data of children and adults, as well as violation of their confidentiality, security and protection, remains one of the most serious threats, according to UNESCO.
- Erosion of the social contract class=”notranslate”>__GTAG16__
“If we end up in a world where the student sits alone in front of a screen and the teacher is reduced to the role of a data manager, we will lose the very spirit of the education system and the teaching profession,” Isaacs said.
She called for protecting “the right to develop the human and critical agency” of teachers and students, and for seeing “school as a space of social justice and human connection, not just a data protocol.”
Teachers and students as integral individuals
Teaching, Isaacs emphasized, is not about competing with machines: “It is about the high-level human work of supporting, mentoring, ethically navigating and creating social scaffolding in the learning process.”
The AI Competency Framework for Teachers emphasizes pedagogical agency, ethical decision-making, understanding how artificial intelligence works, knowing when not to use it, and co-creating technology and professional development pathways.
The competency model for students goes far beyond the requirements of the labor market. It emphasizes the importance of ethics and responsibility, creativity and critical thinking, mental health care, and civic and social engagement.
A look into the future
According to Isaacs, the global dialogue is shifting “from the question of how to use AI to achieve the goals of SDG 4 to the question of how to govern AI to ensure that education remains a public good.”
UNESCO advocates for the priority of public interests over commercial ones, for ethical systems that are initially created with safety in mind, for international solidarity and for the creation of a global public space for AI in education – a shared resource of infrastructure, open models and research.
“The AI divide is becoming the new digital divide,” Isaacs warned. “And a renewed multilateralism means that global solidarity is critical to preventing AI from becoming a tool for technological fragmentation.”
