Are Aspiring Educators All In on AI—or Not?

Ethan Rapp, a junior in secondary history education at Pennsylvania Western University—Edinboro, says he created his first ever lesson plan with the help of AI.

“I asked AI to give me some ideas. I hated all of them, but it got me thinking about what was a good idea, what was a bad idea, and what I could use in the future,” Rapp says.

AI, whether you love it or hate it, is unavoidable in today’s world. The EdWeek Research Center found that the percentage of teachers using AI-driven tools in their classrooms nearly doubled between 2023 and 2025. Another survey, conducted by Gallup, found that nearly 60 percent of teachers used AI in the past school year.

 “Some people might not want to talk about AI, ... but we can’t ignore it,” Rapp says. “It’s something that’s going to be around for a while.”

The Pros

Many overloaded educators already know that AI can help fast track some tasks. One national survey found that teachers who use AI tools at least weekly save an average of 5.9 hours per week. This is critical time that teachers, who are facing historic levels of burnout, can reinvest into other priorities. 

Junior high instructional coach Kristin van Brunt told NEA Today, “AI gives me a lot of time to do other aspects of my job. ... It can be so helpful.” AI can also function as an equalizer, helping bridge gaps for students from different socioeconomic backgrounds, Rapp says. As long as a student has internet access, AI can act as a “personalized tutor” that’s always available to meet individual students exactly where they are in their learning needs. Human educators, on the other hand, may need to cater to multiple students at once while dealing with multiple other demands and a busy schedule, Rapp notes. 

Pacheco also says AI could be really helpful for language translation. She shares how growing up as a child of Venezuelan immigrants and a native Spanish speaker, she often served as a translator for multilingual learners. “AI would really help close that gap,” she says.

Pacheco shares that under-resourced schools that lack dedicated multilingual support services can use AI to instantly translate communications between teachers, students, and families. This can also reduce the burden on students like Pacheco, who are informally pushed into the role of translator.

Many active teachers agree that AI can close persistent learning gaps. One poll found that nearly 60 percent of teachers believe AI improves the accessibility of learning materials for students with disabilities.

The Cons

Pacheco also has some big reservations about AI. She shares that she used one AI program with an option to create individualized education programs (IEPs). 

“It felt insane to me” she says. “IEPs specifically are so personalized. You need to know that student.” 

She also worries that it may be dangerous to share students’ names, ability status, and other personal data with AI machinery, as users still don’t know where that data is going or if it’s protected.

Rapp has his own concerns. He warns that teachers should “never fully rely on it because of its hallucinations and miscalculations.” Rapp recalls how he once asked ChatGPT for 10 court cases on homeschooling in Pennsylvania for a paper. 

Even the co-founder of Anthropic, the maker of the popular AI bot Claude, told the Associated Press that all AI models suffer from hallucinations.

Looking Ahead

As he looks toward his future in the classroom, he imagines that schools will increase in-person assignments and predicts, “We’re going to see a lot more pen and paper.”

Pacheco, who plans to become a math teacher, warns that AI is rapidly changing. “We can’t predict how we’ll be using it in even six months’ time,” she says.

Still, she remarks that AI simply can’t do some projects. “I don’t think a student is going to be able to get a physical model of the solar system done solely using AI,” Pacheco says. “That will require some elbow grease for sure.”

AI in College Classrooms

There is little evidence that future educators are consistently trained in the use of AI tools. Rapp says he took a class called “Technology and Teaching,” which instructs future educators on how to leverage AI in the classroom.

Pacheco has also had some instruction in AI, however, hers is more informal. “There isn’t any written curriculum on it,” Pacheco says, noting that professors will devote a day to it in some classes. “We had a full day of one class where we were just talking about how to use it effectively and critically.”