Tech barons must not be allowed shape education through 'voracious' profit-driven AI

Addressing delegates, TUI general secretary Michael Gillespie spoke on recruitment, retention, burnout, workload, the Leaving Cert, and pay issues — some of the key themes set to dominate this year’s annual congress.

On artificial intelligence, Mr Gillespie said while the use in education settings of AI may bring potential benefits, “the jury is out".

“We are now being told that AI will ease our burden; we have heard this before. Computers, digitalisation, smartphones, and video recorders would decrease our workload. It didn’t,” Mr Gillespie said.

The administrative burden would be removed. It wasn’t. We would have more time to refine our professional skills. We haven’t. The use in education settings of AI may bring potential benefits — the jury is out in that regard.

“What we do know is that any such benefit will accrue only if, where and when AI-enabled technologies are deployed prudently and safely, based on the professional judgement of teachers, not the convenience of administrators or the voracious appetite of big tech for big profit and market dominance,” Mr Gillespie added.

Additionally, the general secretary said tech oligarchs “openly and expensively oppose” educational values and want children “in their unregulated marketplace”. 

“We cannot allow this in our public education system,” Mr Gillespie said.

TUI delegates tabled a demand to involve the teacher unions as partners in “every decision-making process related to AI in education settings".

“A taskforce on AI has been established, and the TUI has suggested detailed terms of reference for this taskforce,” the general secretary added.

Meanwhile, Mr Gillespie called on members to “say no to unnecessary extra work". 

"Say no early, say no collectively," he said, as he spoke on teacher burnout and increasing workload.

“Because what one teacher feels pressured to accept today quickly becomes what every teacher is expected to do tomorrow.

“Every new priority initiative that enters a workplace without time, support, or clarity adds to the burden. We do ourselves no favours by pretending otherwise,” he said.

Mr Gillespie said over the last year, excessive workload became “even more severe”. 

Burnout and stress are not side issues; they are central, health and safety issues. 

He said extra work outside normal hours was “unpaid labour”, which fuels work intensification and damages health.

“And when younger workers see a profession defined by exhaustion, inflexibility, and constant overreach, they will use their transferable skills elsewhere,” Mr Gillespie added.

Another concern raised at the congress was on the next public service pay deal, with the current one set to expire later in June, and the local bargaining element of it yet to finish.

However, TUI said it “will not allow local bargaining to become a Trojan horse for workload expansion, doing more for the same pay in less time".