Minister rejects claims Government late in tackling AI in schools

Hildegarde Naughton speaking at the Irish National Teachers' Organisation's annual congress in Killarney. Picture: Moya Nolan

Education minister Hildegarde Naughton has rejected suggestions that the Government’s new taskforce on AI in schools is a belated attempt to catch up with the challenges the technology poses.

She said “a lot of work has happened to date” regarding the impact of AI.

Ms Naughton on Tuesday morning announced the establishment of the AI in Schools External Advisory Taskforce to “consider the implications of AI for teaching, learning, and assessment across the school system”.

It came as the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland convened for its annual conference in Wexford, where dismay over the impact of AI on compulsory Leaving Cert project work — introduced for science subjects and business last September — was a dominant theme.

The Department of Education approved the use of AI for such project work last year, provided it is adequately cited. 

Many teachers are of the opinion that such use may be undetectable, and that the onus for tracking the use of AI should not be on them.

Asked why the same taskforce was not convened several years ago before introducing the use of AI into the syllabus, given the topic has been troubling educators for the past half-decade, Ms Naughton said “this isn’t the start of it now”.

Guidance on AI

She cited the publication of guidance on AI by her department last year as a clear example of how AI has been tackled proactively.

Ms Naughton said her department is “working with our European counterparts... around guidelines, around toolkits for our students and our teachers, to make sure that we’re using AI responsibly and ethically.

“This isn’t the starting point. A lot of work has happened to date,” she said, adding that the taskforce had been “something that the unions wanted as well”. 

Ms Naughton said the taskforce would be reporting to her each quarter “so that we’re getting updates in relation to the tools and supports for our schools”.

The taskforce announcement, made just ahead of the opening of the ASTI conference, came as something of a surprise, with union president Padraig Curley departing briefly from his prepared remarks to say it “may be a step in the right direction”.

Ms Naughton said the “genie is out of the bottle” with regard to AI. 

“Artificial intelligence is here to stay. It's really important that we are adapting to this new digital world, that we are equipping our young people around the ethical and the responsible use of artificial intelligence.” 

She insisted there is “nothing wrong with using artificial intelligence, as long as you reference it”.

Oral exams

Asked separately about the ASTI’s vote to move oral exams back into term time from their current Easter‑holiday slot, Ms Naughton said she did not feel the previous arrangement — where language teachers left their classes to conduct exams — represented “a very good use of teacher time”.

The orals were first moved to the Easter holidays during the covid pandemic mainly due to issues sourcing adequate numbers of qualified examiners during term.

Ms Naughton said that keeping the orals during Easter break “allows for students to get at least a 10-day break after they do their oral exams before they go back into coursework”.