Survey – Students in England are losing thinking skills because of AI

According to The Guardian, a survey of secondary school teachers in England, students using artificial intelligence are losing critical thinking skills. Most students said they no longer need to write letters themselves due to speech-to-text technology.

The government has called for a digital revolution covering the use of AI in schools and announced plans in January to develop AI tutoring tools to provide individual learning support to up to 450,000 disadvantaged students. At a conference in Bridlington, 49% of the 9,000 state school teachers surveyed by the NEU said they opposed the government’s AI tutors plan, while only 14% agreed with it.

Although teachers are skeptical about students’ use of AI and complain that it can help with cheating in exams and homework, some admit that they increasingly rely on it to get their work done. 76% now use AI for daily work, a significant increase from 53% last year. It is mainly used to create resources (61%), plan lessons (41%), and handle administrative tasks (38%). Only 7% use AI tools for assessment.However, 49% of schools have no policy regulating the use of AI by staff or students, and 66% have no policy specifically for students.

A government spokesperson said: “Our mission is to break the link between the past and success, and the implementation of AI tutoring tools can help achieve this – expanding the targeted support that has often been available only to a privileged few to every child who needs it.

“No technology should replace the foundations of essential knowledge and disciplined thinking that prepare students for later life. But we also need to prepare children for a digitalized world. That is why the white paper for our schools sets out a clear plan to ensure the safe, critical, and responsible use of AI, so that every young person can achieve and thrive.”