Let me start by admitting that I might be dating myself here. But I do so to make a point: even as technology advances, our need for human connection remains essential.
Growing up, The Jetsons was my favorite show. The future it presented was exhilarating! Flying cars, sky-high buildings, robot assistants, meals at the push of a button, video calls across the globe—all of it felt like an impossible dream, a cartoon fantasy that would never come true in my lifetime.
Fast forward to the 21st century: Roombas, DoorDash, Zoom, and more became part of everyday life. Suddenly, the Jetsons’ world was here, and we welcomed these changes. They transformed how we lived, and while they were new and different, we eagerly adapted.
Then came AI—and the enthusiasm wavered. This time, the leap felt more complex, more uncertain. According to a recent Gallup poll, the majority of Americans (56%) believe AI has a net neutral effect — doing equal amounts of harm and good. But they are more than twice as likely to believe it does more harm than good (31%) as they are to believe the good of AI outweighs its harms (13%). It’s a fair concern, but it’s missing a key perspective. Much like other technological advances, AI, when used wisely, can support rather than replace teachers. We just need to understand how to leverage its strengths effectively.
The Potential of AI to Lighten Teachers’ Workload
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, educators face an extraordinary workload, with surveys showing that teachers in the U.S. work an average of 54 hours per week, yet only 46% of that time is spent teaching. The other hours? They’re spent on administrative tasks, grading, curriculum planning, and more. If AI can take on some of these burdens, teachers can reclaim valuable time for the heart of their profession: teaching and connecting with students.
Take a recent task I faced: creating a list of school leaders across the country. Each state and district has its own way of organizing this information, making it a complex and time-consuming project. Kansas, for example, had a PDF with names and emails—but in a columned format rather than a handy spreadsheet.
Manually copying and pasting would have taken hours. Instead, I used ChatGPT, pasting the data and asking it to extract the email addresses. Ten seconds later, I had the list. Hours of work reduced to seconds, giving me back time I spent with my seven-year-old at the park.
This example barely scratches the surface of AI’s potential. Imagine all the administrative tasks that AI could streamline, allowing educators to focus on teaching rather than paperwork.
A Boost, Not a Replacement for Connection
There’s understandable concern that AI could replace roles or reduce meaningful interaction. A study by the RAND Corporation found that teachers worry about maintaining the personal connection in education if AI becomes a prevalent classroom tool. But every new advancement brings both challenges and opportunities. For educators, especially, AI could be a tool to take on the ever-growing list of tasks that pull them away from students.
When I started teaching, grading was done by hand—writing in physical gradebooks, calculating each grade, then manually uploading them. It was exhausting and ate up precious time. Today, digital gradebooks have simplified this process, so we can focus more on teaching than on endless administrative tasks. We didn’t resist this innovation; we embraced it, and it became second nature. AI can certainly offer the same, when used with this purpose in mind.
AI: Empowering Teachers to Focus on What Matters
AI could offer teachers a starting point for presentations, assessments, or projects, or provide students with quick answers when a teacher is busy with another student. A 2024 study from the Christensen Institute found that AI-based tools in the classroom can increase productivity by up to 40% when used thoughtfully, reducing burnout and improving job satisfaction among educators.
It’s not about replacing the teacher but supporting them to do more of what they love: teaching. To truly support our educators, we should explore and pilot AI tools that free them to focus on students, not busy work. AI has the potential to transform teaching in a way that brings back the focus on human connection and learning. And isn’t that a future worth working toward?
References
- Gallup. (2024). Americans Express Real Concerns About Artificial Intelligence
- National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Teacher Turnover: Stayers, Movers, and Leavers
- RAND Corporation. (2024). Using Artificial Intelligence Tools in K-12 Classrooms
- Christensen Institute. (2024). AI’s Education Impact in 2024 could be Bigger than Many Predict
Post written by Alicia Hughes