Letters to the Editor: AI guidance for schools is too little too late

One reader writes in to say that all teachers, especially those with project components in their subjects, were hoping for clarity on how AI use by students would be treated in assessment

School leaders and teachers already juggle countless responsibilities and now find themselves still in limbo when it comes to directing and creating policies on AI use by teachers, but especially by students. Picture: iStock

Last Tuesday’s publication of the Department of Education’s guidance on artificial intelligence in schools, Version 1, arrives over 18 months after it was promised by then minister for education, Norma Foley. It is a document we desperately needed then. Now, it feels like a monument to a moment that has already well and truly passed.

School leaders and teachers already juggle countless responsibilities and now find themselves still in limbo when it comes to arguably the most pressing challenge in Irish education — directing and creating policies on AI use by teachers, but especially by students.