The concern around AI disruption is real and growing. However, if you listen to some of the loudest voices in tech, they might convince you that teaching is a legacy profession that is ripe for disruption by a more efficient, adaptive algorithm.
As someone who has spent my career in and around schools, and as someone who looks at the integration of mathematics and technology, I see a different story. History is littered with “teacher-replacement” technologies that promised to democratize expertise and render the classroom obsolete. In the 1960s, we had the Midwest Program on Airborne Television Instruction (literally broadcasting lessons from a plane). In the 2010s, we had the MOOC revolution.
In every case, the technology became a useful tool, but the “replacement” never happened.
In my latest blog post, AI and Teaching: Why I’m Not Losing Sleep, I discuss my perspective that: teaching is a relationship profession that uses content as its medium.
While AI is categorically more sophisticated than previous tools, I don’t see it as replacing the “relational core” of teaching—the moral authority, the accountability, and the diagnostic judgment that comes from knowing a student’s concerns and potential.
If you are a new teacher or someone planning a long-term career, I believe you should be reasonably confident. The digital flood is coming, but for those of us centering our work on human relationships, I think the levee will hold.
If you have questions or topic ideas, reach out at personalfinanceforeducators@gmail.com or drop a comment below.
~Josh