The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) today said that every effort must be made to optimise the potential benefits and protect against the risks that Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents to the education system.
The union said that the potential of AI to reduce the significant administrative burden in the profession should be fully explored.
The Union is hosting a conference on AI in Education in Mullingar today (Saturday, 2nd March).
TUI represents 20,500 members across Post Primary, Further and Adult Education and Higher Education.
Speaking today, TUI President David Waters said:
‘Every effort must be made to ensure that we maximise the positives that AI can potentially provide and work to limit and control the range of risks that arise.
As an obvious starting point, AI must not be allowed to replace or displace the indispensable work of teachers or lecturers. It should only be used where it can complement the work of the educator and enrich the experience of the learner.
Today, we urge the Department of Education, DFHERIS, the NCCA, the SEC and other relevant agencies to intensify engagement with all stakeholders to ensure that the education system is no way ‘outpaced’ by AI. Specifically, it is critical that the required Departmental guidelines and regulatory safeguards are formalised and then regularly assessed and updated.
Clearly, high quality continuing professional development (CPD) will also be required for students and educators at the earliest possible stage.
In terms of opportunities, the potential of AI to reduce the ever-growing administrative burden on educators should be fully explored. In a number of surveys, our members have cited bureaucratic overload as an ever-increasing and demoralising distraction from teaching and learning, one that in many cases is driving teachers and lecturers from the profession.
Education is a public good – not a market - and must be protected as such. Academic integrity must be maintained and any AI usage must be underpinned by principles of equity and fair access. Where usage of AI is approved and encouraged, there must be equality of access for students. Crucially, every effort must be made to ensure that it does not become a substitute for the critical thinking skills of students, and any material generated by AI must always be quoted by students as such.
There is also a clear requirement to safeguard assessment methods, not least in terms of the Leaving Certificate. We welcomed Minister Foley’s announcement in September that she was shelving plans for teachers to mark their own students’ work for State certification purposes, a decision she said was due to concerns about the impact of AI. We had already made clear that our members are resolutely opposed to assessing their own students for State certification purposes. The Leaving Certificate retains significant public trust and this must be maintained.
There are also clear and specific challenges in higher education and further education in relation to assessment modalities that need to be addressed and appropriately resourced.
Needless to say, matters of privacy, data protection, intellectual property rights and teacher/lecturer autonomy must be robustly addressed as must national sovereignty in the development and design of curriculum.
Overall, we must embrace the positive benefits of AI and ensure that any risks are adequately mitigated and policed.’