Trump advocates for AI in schools
President Trump has proposed using more artificial intelligence (AI) in schools, and if his policy takes effect, our school days are about to get a whole lot more “artificial.” The idea is to implement AI deep into K-12 education, possibly to help personalize learning or for some, to make everything faster.
While adults debate budgets and implementation, students are the ones who have to sit in the classrooms, and many students are side-eyeing the whole plan. The common sentiment isn’t excitement; it’s dread.
The main stress is simple, we’re already using AI to coast. Raven York, an 11th grader, didn’t hold back. “The thought of AI being integrated into school when students have been using it to cheat just seems so stupid to me,” York stated.
She’s seen it happen across the board from physics to history classes. York believes making AI official gives everyone a green light to stop learning.
Beyond dishonesty, York argues that the focus is misaligned with reality. Most students aren’t thinking about the “AI workforce.” But rather, they’re just focused on “surviving school.” She worries the reliance on these tools will actively harm basic skills, stating, “I worry that AI usage in schools will decrease overall student literacy.” For York, prompting AI over fundamental learning risks creates a generation that is dependent rather than independent.
Alondra Rodriguez-Flores, another junior, is trying to be fair about the whole thing. She admits the technology, “could have a positive effect, but can also have a negative impact on education.”
Rodriguez-Flores knows some kids will use AI as a great tool to learn, but just as many will use it to “finish assignments faster, while not really learning anything.”
Meanwhile, teachers are figuring out how to manage AI with limited support. Alex Petropoulakis, an English teacher, worries the rush is all wrong.
“My opinion is that teaching AI should wait until an age of further development,” Petropoulakis said. Early use, he believes, “may inhibit imagination and figurative thinking later on.”
Petropoulakis points out that the policy’s promise of comprehensive teacher training has not materialized. “Every teacher has a different degree of familiarity with AI, and there has been very little district-wide addressing of its use in the classroom besides an optional professional development.”
Ultimately, the White House plan is about U.S. technological leadership. But from the students who just want a shortcut to the teacher who fears technology will kill imagination, the policy’s rollout is proving to be a murky, complicated, and potentially harmful trade-off.