World Teachers’ Day: Should generative AI be celebrated too?

World Teachers’ Day (WTD) is celebrated each year on October 5. The day commemorates Unesco's 1966 recommendations concerning the rights and responsibilities of teachers. Ultimately, though, WTD is a global celebration of educators, a thank you to all teachers — from those painting faces on eggs to those pleading with doctoral students not to quit. Many of us can recall at least one teacher who profoundly impacted our lives. As the old slogan goes, "If you’re reading this, there is probably a teacher to thank".

Like most aspects of life, education has also felt the disruptive hand of the information age. Up until now, the changes within education have been relatively gradual and gentle. However, more changes are on the horizon and they are likely to impact teachers’ rights and responsibilities.

As a former educator (college professor), I remember my first encounter with a digital native (a person who never knew a world without Wi-Fi). It was a seminar, and I asked one of those pompous questions I was sure nobody could answer. I’d used the same question for years, and it was typically met with silence, blank stares, or ridiculously wrong answers. However, that year, it was different. After a short silence, a couple of hands went up, and a particularly lucid, coherent and correct answer came back. The use of Google as an in-class study tool had arrived. At that moment, I realised education and educators had no choice but to evolve.

In recent years — accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic — the worlds of technology and pedagogy (teaching and learning) have become ever more intertwined. With artificial intelligence (AI) also entering the educational fray, I wonder what this will spell for teachers and children in the near future. Will we see the emergence of robot teachers?

In their 2018 co-authored book, The Fourth Education Revolution: Will Artificial Intelligence Liberate or Infantilise Humanity, Sir Anthony Sheldon and Oladimeji Abidoye argue that AI embedded within robotic teachers can easily outperform human teachers in the areas of information, giving and tailoring assessment to the specific needs of each student. Gone will be the days of age-related year groups, they propose. If you are ready to progress, then you will progress, and robo-teachers will lead the way.

Are we ready to accept an AI-led classroom? We recently asked this question in our 2024 global digital wellbeing study, a survey of 35,000 people from 35 countries spanning seven world regions. Specifically, we asked respondents to express their level of agreement/disagreement with the following statement: "I would let my child be taught by an AI-generated school teacher." A slight majority of respondents disagreed or were unsure about the proposition, but 45 per cent of us agreed.

Some nations were very positive about the idea of AI-generated teachers, while others were far less so. This was part of a broader pattern related to AI optimism; for example, people in East Asia (China) and Southeast Asia (Vietnam) were far more optimistic about the societal benefits of AI than their counterparts in Northern Europe (UK) and North America (US). The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait were all relatively optimistic (above the global average on AI optimism).

Current public perception aside, it’s hard for me to imagine AI not playing a key role in the future of education. The challenge is how to ensure this is complementary to the existing function of human teachers. Beyond giving information, great teachers are ‘experience architects’, designing growth-promoting safe spaces where everyone flourishes.

Along with facts and figures, teachers also impart life lessons. Implicitly, through their actions and way of being, teachers instil values within us. Based on how they treat us, they teach us about our own self-worth, the value of kindness, and respect for others.

• UAE President declares February 28 as Emirati Day for Education