'AI is already here in homework': Teachers pass motion for specialist AI training

Joe Rayfus told the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) annual congress: 'If we are not careful, students will go straight to the answer before thinking.' File picture

A motion calling for specialist AI training for teachers and long‑term investment to ensure schools have the tools to engage meaningfully with artificial intelligence has been passed unanimously.

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) annual congress on Wednesday heard from executive committee member Joe Rayfus, who advocated for using AI to help in teaching and learning. He also called for adequate support and training for teachers using AI in schools.

The motion highlights that AI is increasingly used as a “source of content, which, given the toxic nature of a proportion of such content, must be assessed, dissected, and critically analysed". 

“Schools require the time, space, and curricular capacity within teaching and learning to equip students with the skills necessary to evaluate AI-generated content, in order to avoid bias, misogyny, misinformation, fake news, and other risks that accompany this rapidly evolving technology,” states the motion.

AI is both “a positive force and a negative disruptor in education depending on how it is introduced, regulated, and supported," states the motion. 

“Teachers urgently need specialist training well beyond what is currently available, along with meaningful and sustained investment in professional time, infrastructure, and hardware to allow schools to be prepared for what amounts to a new industrial revolution driven by artificial intelligence."

Mr Rayfus told the congress: “AI is already here in homework, essays, and we are all trying to keep up with it.

“However, if we are not careful, students will go straight to the answer before thinking.” Mr Rayfus said there is currently no “clear road map, and training is patchy". 

Calling on delegates to pass the motion, Mr Rayfus said it takes time and support to learn the tools to work with AI.

“We are not anti-AI, I want to be clear, we all see the goodness it can make in teaching and learning. But it only works if teachers are leading it,” he said.

The TUI congress will conclude on Thursday.