Teaching's automation risk, and the two hours a week

Jen Cooper, TEACH.org

TEACH.org puts the automation risk for teaching at under ten percent, and argues that what AI cannot do is respond to a student in the moment. That part will not surprise anyone who teaches.

Teachers using AI to build materials report average time savings of under two hours a week. That is a real improvement, but it is far below what districts are being told when they are sold an AI tool. Once a teacher has educated an AI agent with proper context, the gains look more like 4-6 hours a week in our experience.

The article separates two jobs teachers are being handed: using AI in their own work, and helping students think about AI. Training for these looks quite different. A teacher can get quick at drafting a rubric with a chat tool and still have no settled answer for what a student may use on an essay. The second job is harder, and it is the one most schools are further behind on.

Worth reading if you are setting expectations for staff this year.