What We’re Hearing and Reading About AI in Education

Since launching the AI Observatory, we’ve been in listening mode — meeting and discussing AI with people across the world. These conversations have surfaced key trends, tensions, and paradoxes that shape how AI is evolving in different contexts.

Signal Spotting

Some of the paradoxes that are coming up:

AI is evolving at breakneck speed…

and yet, not fast enough, with many fearing being left behind. AI breakthroughs are happening faster than people can adapt. But when it comes to meaningful adoption, things feel slow.

Everything feels new, but we’ve also been here before

AI is being described as a once-in-a-generation breakthrough, a paradigm shift, even a new industrial revolution. But many of the debates and challenges echo conversations we’ve had about EdTech in general.

Some people feel like they’re chasing their tails, while others are confidently on the front foot

Many professionals feel they are constantly catching up, overwhelmed by the speed at which AI tools and knowledge are evolving.

We’ll regret not seizing this opportunity…or not paying enough attention to the risks

The optimism — about how AI can lower costs, expand access, and enable personalised learning — is balanced out by the very real concerns about equity, pedagogy, and unintended consequences.

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How might we support teachers with training and guardrails to shift from uncertainty to confidence in identifying effective use cases and AI tools?

One challenge in education today is: In most countries, teachers tend to gain their knowledge of AI informally, which often results in misconceptions and fragmented understanding (UNESCO, 2025), increasing the…

How might we reform curricula to include AI literacy, learning not just how to use AI, but how to question, shape, and co-create with it?

One challenge in education today is: generic AI skills for learners are increasingly seen as essential, but they are not enough on their own (WEF, 2025). Interventions that focus narrowly…

How might we reform curricula to help students adapt to new ways of working, ensuring they can collaborate, solve problems, and effectively use AI in their lives and careers?

How do we equip learners with the knowledge and life skills needed for jobs in a world that is still taking shape and rapidly transforming in the age of AI?…
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EdTech Hub’s AI Observatory is made possible with the support of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.