Will teachers be replaced by AI in 5 years?
Late last year I had the privilege of speaking at a conference on AI and education.
During lunch, I had a lively conversation with another speaker who was certain that AI would replace teachers in a few short years. I was convinced he was wrong at the time, and I’m only more convinced now.
Let me tell you why.
Learning is a reflection of who we are
Any discussion about education and AI rests on deep philosophical footings.
This is because it inevitably raises questions about the nature of education, the purpose of teaching, and, ultimately, what humans are.
The simple truth is that humans are not just brains on sticks.
Of course, if we were, then education would simply be the imparting of knowledge.
But humans are infinitely more complex than that.
We are a mixture of heart, soul, mind, and body.
We are incarnate; we are embodied.
To remove a teacher and replace her with AI is to disembody education, and a disembodied education will not work for embodied people.
2. AI-exclusive learning is depersonalised
Those who champion the idea that AI will replace teachers argue that it will hyper-personalise education.
To be fair, every student receiving a personalised education is a great goal.
One-size-fits-all education is rarely better than one-size-fits-all clothing.
In a world where teachers are replaced with AI - so they argue - every student gets tailored content that is right in their academic goldilocks zone.
However, this is personalised learning only in the most superficial form.
On a deeper level, it is deeply depersonalised. It is removing the person.
There are many systemic issues within education. None of them will be solved through less human interaction.
The true blessing of AI will be allowing teachers to fast-track their admin and spend more time with their students, not less.
3. Teachers are safe
I’d happily bet my house that teachers won’t have gone anywhere by 2030, or by 2300 for that matter.
Even if an institution tries eliminating teachers, the bitter fruit will soon reinforce what educators already know:
You can’t educate humans without humans.
