MPs will examine the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and EdTech in education in a newly launched inquiry.
The cross-party Education Select Committee will examine the opportunities and challenges posed by AI and EdTech across the whole education system, including early years settings, schools, colleges and universities.
In a speech in January, the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said AI could be ‘the biggest boost for education in the last 500 years’, but said this potential was matched by the government’s responsibility to ‘get this right’.
The Committee will consider how AI is reshaping learning, including how it affects skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and oracy. They will consider the risks of AI use perpetuating inequalities between students and explore whether students are supported to use AI safely and responsibly.
Children’s digital rights will be considered, including the balance between their respective rights to privacy and participation and the potential safeguarding risks of fast-evolving AI tools and addictive design features.
According to a Schools Week survey, 60% of teachers are now using AI for work purposes, with over a fifth using it daily.
MPs will also explore how teachers, lecturers and early years practitioners use AI in their daily work, whether they have enough support on how to use it effectively and how the growing use of EdTech and AI might affect traditional assessment methods.
Alongside the new inquiry, MPs will also be conducting work into screen time and online safety, considering the government’s consultation on banning social media for under-16s.
Chair of the Education Committee, Helen Hayes MP, said:
“AI and EdTech are already reshaping education, from the early years and secondary school right through to college and university.
“These tools could represent an extraordinary opportunity to elevate learning and streamline teachers’ busy workloads. At the same time, there are risks in deploying rapidly developing technology without any clear values-based decision making or evaluation framework and without a full understanding of the consequences and there is a potential risk of widening inequality between students.
“Our inquiry will take a hard look at the evidence and separate AI fact from fiction. We will explore how AI and EdTech are already being used and consider how the government can balance its benefits with safeguards against the risks it poses.”
