Commenting on a plan by government to trial AI tutoring tools to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“The NEU recognises the scale of the challenge facing disadvantaged pupils and welcomes the government’s ambition to widen access to high quality learning support. Improving outcomes for pupils on free school meals and addressing unequal access to tutoring are essential goals. The government is right to be in control of this rather than leaving it to private corporations.
“AI tutoring tools should exist to support, not replace, face-to-face teaching. Technology can support education when it is evidence based, safe and under professional control.
“However, the jury is still out on AI tutoring. The only peer reviewed study focuses on undergraduate students, and there is no research on long term impact. Evidence on wellbeing, bias, inappropriate content and pupil dependency is also scarce. Trials must therefore be independent, transparent and concerned with more than short term attainment. We are concerned that the government has committed to rolling out AI tutoring regardless of trial outcomes.
“AI only works well when humans intervene in its application, yet the government has made no commitment to funding this. Without resources, the burden will fall on schools that are already running on empty.
“The NEU will engage constructively, but any national rollout must be regulated, rooted in professional trust, and grounded in credible, continuous and independent research.”