logo
Opinion: Will Big Tech transform school into an AI video game?

Opinion: Will Big Tech transform school into an AI video game?

The Star12-07-2025
'Why am I learning AI if it's going to eventually take my job?' one of my students asked me at the end of the school year.
'I don't know,' I said. 'I wonder the same thing about mine.'
Students are off for the summer, but Big Tech is working hard pitching its brand to schools, marketing its products to students as 'homework buddies' and 'personal tutors' and to educators as 'teaching assistants' and 'work pals,' while undermining the entire field of education and sending out a sea of mixed messages.
We all have reason to worry. The dizzying pace at which artificial intelligence has infiltrated schools and dominated the discourse within education has left the classroom a battleground of contradictions.
Our fears aren't hyperbolic. Schools in Texas and Arizona are already using AI to 'teach' kids with educators as mere 'guides' rather than experts in their content area.
Last year, one of my seniors told me she preferred AI to her teachers 'because I can talk to AI in the middle of the night, but my teachers don't email me back until the next morning.'
In May, Luis von Ahn, CEO of the foreign language education app Duolingo, said: 'It's just a lot more scalable to teach with AI than with teachers.' Schools will exist mostly just for child care. And President Donald Trump's April 23 executive order calls for the use of AI in schools, claiming the 'early exposure' will spark 'curiosity and creativity.'
This pressure isn't only coming from the White House. Education websites have uncritically embraced AI at a stunning pace. Edutopia used to highlight resources for teaching literature, history, art, math and science and instead is dominated now by AI 'tools' marketed to burned-out, overworked educators to save time. EdTechTeacher and Colleague.AI call AI 'knowledgeable colleagues' and 'friendly buddies,' shifting away from teachers' specific subject areas.
If this isn't dizzying enough, when we educators are directed or forced to use AI in our teaching, we're criticised when we do.
What's really happening in the classroom is this: Teachers are unable to teach the problem-solving skills kids will need as they grow up and are blamed when an entire generation is outsourcing their imaginations to Big Tech. No wonder test scores have plunged, and anxiety and depression have risen.
Yet in glossy AI advertisements paid with the billions of dollars Big Tech is making off schools, the classroom is portrayed as student-centered spaces where kids engage with personalised technology that differentiates better than teachers as though it's just another school supply item like the pencil cases on their desks.
The kids know it. When I teach grammar, students want to use Grammarly. When we read a book together, they say ChatGPT can summarise it for them in seconds. When I teach them any part of the writing process, they list the dozens of AI apps that are designed to 'write' the essay for them. Students readily admit they use AI to cheat, but they're constantly getting messages to use their 'writing coach,' 'debate-partner' and 'study buddy.'
It's always been an uphill battle for educators to get kids to like school. It's part of the profession. 'It's our job to push students, and it's our students' job to resist,' a mentor told me when I was a new teacher. 'In the middle,' he continued, 'therein lies learning.'
Wherein lies learning now? Will school become a video game packaged as, well, school?
If educators don't teach writing, we're told we're not teaching students how to communicate. If we don't teach reading, we're told we're not teaching them how to think critically. If we don't teach them business skills, we're told we're not preparing them to enter the workforce. Now we're being told if we don't teach them AI, we're not preparing them for their future that consists of what, exactly? The future that's poised to steal their jobs?
At the end of the school year in my freshman English class, we read Erich Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front . I asked my ninth graders to choose passages that stood out to them. Many of them chose this one: 'We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men. We are crude and sorrowful and superficial – I believe we are lost.'
They noticed the alienation the soldiers feel from themselves. I wondered if it's how they felt, too – estranged from their own selves. Ironically, their discovery showed the whole point of reading literature – to understand oneself and the world better and to increase one's capacity for empathy and compassion. As my mentor teacher told me decades ago, therein lies learning.
Our kids have become soldiers caught on the front lines in the battle for education, stuck in the crossfire of Big Tech and school. The classroom – a sacred space that should prioritize human learning, discovery and academic risk-taking – has become a flashpoint in America, and our kids are in the center of it.
I recently finished reading The Road Back , Remarque's sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front . The novel dramatises the ongoing alienation of the soldiers once they've returned home from war.
'Why can't you let the kids enjoy the few years that are left to them,' Willy, one of the soldiers pleads, 'while they need still know nothing about it?'
Is the classroom going to remain a torched battleground such as the one my students read about in All Quiet on the Western Front – kids hunkering in the trenches of our schools while the adults fight over the eroded terrain of education? Will they become even more cut off from their own selves, just when they're getting to know who they are? – Grand Haven Tribune, Mich.a/Tribune News Service
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Nasa says it will lose about 20% of its workforce
Nasa says it will lose about 20% of its workforce

Free Malaysia Today

time11 hours ago

  • Free Malaysia Today

Nasa says it will lose about 20% of its workforce

Around 3,000 employees took part in the second round of Nasa's deferred resignation programme. (EPA Images pic) WASHINGTON : The US space agency Nasa will lose about 3,900 employees under Donald Trump's sweeping effort to trim the federal workforce – at the same time as the president prioritises plans for crewed missions to the Moon and Mars. In an emailed statement, Nasa said around 3,000 employees took part in the second round of its deferred resignation programme, which closed late Friday. Combined with the 870 who joined the first round and regular staff departures, the agency's civil servant workforce is set to drop from more than 18,000 before Trump took office in January to roughly 14,000 – a more than 20% decrease. Those leaving Nasa on the deferred resignation programme will be placed on administrative leave until an agreed departure date. An agency spokesman said the figures could shift slightly in the coming weeks. 'Safety remains a top priority for our agency as we balance the need to become a more streamlined and more efficient organisation and work to ensure we remain fully capable of pursuing a Golden Era of exploration and innovation, including to the Moon and Mars,' the agency said. Earlier this year, the Trump administration's proposed Nasa budget put a return to the Moon and a journey to Mars front and centre, slashing science and climate programmes. The White House says it wants to focus on 'beating China back to the Moon and putting the first human on Mars.' China is aiming for its first crewed lunar landing by 2030, while the US programme, called Artemis, has faced repeated delays. Nasa is still run by an acting administrator after the administration's initial pick to lead the agency, tech billionaire Jared Isaacman – endorsed by former Trump advisor Elon Musk – was ultimately rejected by the Republican president.

AI is replacing search engines as a shopping guide, research suggests
AI is replacing search engines as a shopping guide, research suggests

The Star

time13 hours ago

  • The Star

AI is replacing search engines as a shopping guide, research suggests

Finding products, comparing prices and browsing reviews: Until now, you'd have done most of this in a search engine like Google. But that era appears to be ending thanks to AI, research shows. — Photo: Christin Klose/dpa COPENHAGEN: Three in four people who use AI are turning to the likes of ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot to get advice and recommendations on shopping and travel instead of using the previous online method of search engines like Google, new research shows. AI-supported online shopping is done at least occasionally by 76% of AI users, with 17% doing so most or even all of the time, according to a study conducted by the market research institute Norstat on behalf of Verdane, a leading European investment company. The changes in consumer search behaviour pose a major challenge not only for search engine providers like Google but also for manufacturers and retailers, who must adapt to maintain their visibility in the AI-driven world. AI chatbots have emerged as powerful tools for tracking down specific products, often providing helpful advice in response to complex and specific queries. Of the survey respondents, 3% are dedicated AI enthusiasts who always use AI tools instead of search engines when shopping online, while 14% said they mostly use AI and 35% do so occasionally. A total of 7,282 people from the UK, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland aged between 18 and 60 participated in the survey in June. The highest proportion of AI use is in online travel research, at 33%. This is followed by consumer electronics (22%), DIY and hobby supplies (20%), and software or digital subscriptions (19%). However, AI usage is still relatively low in fashion and clothing (13%), cosmetics (12%), and real estate (7%). Among AI tools, ChatGPT is far ahead of its competitors and 86% of AI users regularly use OpenAI's chatbot. This is followed at a considerable distance by Google's Gemini (26% regular users) and Microsoft's Copilot (20%). The Chinese AI bot DeepSeek, which has been the subject of heated debate among AI experts and data protection advocates, appears to have no significant role among consumers in Europe. – dpa

Crypto's next big thing? Tokenisation battles hype, hurdles and hope
Crypto's next big thing? Tokenisation battles hype, hurdles and hope

Malay Mail

time18 hours ago

  • Malay Mail

Crypto's next big thing? Tokenisation battles hype, hurdles and hope

NEW YORK, July 27 — Tokenisation has long been a buzzword for crypto enthusiasts, who have been arguing for years that blockchain-based assets will change the underlying infrastructure of financial markets. The technology is seen as rapidly increasing in coming years, especially in the US, helped by the passage of three new bills. President Donald Trump's administration has eased regulation of the broader crypto industry, paving the way for a boom in the valuation of companies in the sector and the rapid growth of crypto-related securities. However, the growth of the market for tokenised assets has been far slower than expected in recent years, with many projects still in their infancy or not yet live. How does tokenisation work? The term 'tokenisation' is used in a variety of ways. But it generally refers to the process of turning financial assets — such as bank deposits, stocks, bonds, funds and even real estate — into crypto assets. This means creating a record on digital ledger blockchain that represents the original asset. These blockchain-based assets, or 'tokens', can be held in crypto wallets and traded on blockchain, just like cryptocurrencies. Where do stablecoins come in? Stablecoins can be seen as an example of tokenisation. They are a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value by being pegged to a real-world currency, typically the US dollar. The issuer holds one US dollar in reserve for every dollar-pegged crypto token it creates. Stablecoins are blockchain-based tokens acting as a proxy for an asset that already exists outside the blockchain. They allow people to move money across borders without interacting with the banking system. While critics say that this makes them useful for criminals who want to avoid banks' anti-money laundering checks, stablecoin issuers say that they are a lifeline for people in countries without a developed payments system. Representations of cryptocurrencies in this illustration taken January 24, 2022. — Reuters pic Are tokenised assets taking off? Yes and no. Stablecoins have grown in recent years, with the market estimated to be worth about US$256 billion (RM1.08 trillion), according to crypto data provider CoinMarketCap, and expected to touch US$2 trillion by 2028, according to Standard Chartered. But banks have talked for years about creating tokenised versions of other types of assets, which they say will make trading more efficient, faster and cheaper, and those 'tokens' have struggled to gain traction. While there have been individual issuances, there is not a liquid secondary market for these kinds of assets. One impediment to trading traditional assets via blockchain is that banks are working on their own private networks, making it difficult to trade across platforms. What are the pros of tokenisation? Some proponents of the crypto industry have said tokenisation can improve liquidity in the financial system. Illiquid assets like real estate could be traded more easily if they are broken up into small digital tokens. It is also expected to improve access to asset classes that are typically out of reach of smaller investors by creating a cheaper entry point. Some major global banks, including Bank of America and Citi have said they could explore launching tokenised assets, including stablecoins. — Reuters pic Which companies are interested in tokenisation? Some major global banks, including Bank of America and Citi have said they could explore launching tokenised assets, including stablecoins. Asset manager BlackRock is also doubling down on the tokenisation boom, and has highlighted its ambition of becoming the largest cryptocurrency manager in the world by 2030. Coinbase, the largest US crypto exchange, is seeking permission from the SEC to offer 'tokenised equities' to its customers. How does new regulation help tokenisation? Since stablecoins themselves are tokens and seen as one of the biggest drivers of the growth of tokenisation, the new stablecoin law will end up boosting the proliferation of tokenisation, experts say. The new market structure bill, known as the Clarity Act, is expected to establish a clear framework that could enable stablecoins and other crypto tokens to become more widely used. What are the risks? Some analysts say the hype around tokenisation might be premature and caution that the rapidly growing crypto ecosystem could experience near-term turbulence due to the potential risks of a big decline in prices. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has warned stablecoins pose risks for monetary policy and financial stability. Some critics of the industry warn the frenzy around the new technology could introduce new systemic risks, especially in the absence of stringent regulation. They also say there is no reason why blockchain should be any more efficient than the electronic ledgers and trading systems already used in financial markets. Buyers of third-party tokens, which are issued by unaffiliated third parties — such as crypto exchange Kraken — that have custody of securities, could be exposed to counterparty risks, and regulators are sounding notes of caution. Earlier in July, Hester Peirce, a commissioner at the US Securities and Exchange Commission who has frequently spoken positively about cryptocurrency, said tokenised securities would not be able to circumvent existing securities laws. More than half of the world's US dollar stablecoins are issued by a single company, Tether, which says it manages US$160 billion in reserves, but has not undergone a financial audit. — Reuters

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store