Around half of adults in the UK think responsible use of AI should be taught in secondary schools, with the public divided over how it should be used by pupils and teachers, new research suggests.
A YouGov survey commissioned by Cambridge University Press and Assessment found respondents were divided on whether students should use AI to improve punctuation and grammar in coursework, but are more supportive of teachers using the technology for admin tasks.
Jill Duffy, chief executive of OCR, said the education sector must “find a way to adapt coursework so it is fit for the AI century”.
Split opinion
YouGov’s nationally representative poll of 2,221 over-18s found 52 per cent of adults supported adding responsible use of AI to the secondary school curriculum. Fewer (34 per cent) said they wanted it to be taught in primary schools.
Fifty-nine per cent supported teachers’ use of AI for admin tasks such as lesson planning, while 31 per cent said they were against it.
But respondents were more opposed to using the technology for marking, at 62 per cent compared to 27 per cent in support.
It comes after The Sutton Trust found an emerging “digital divide” between private and state schools’ use of AI, with private schools “forging ahead” with clear school-wide strategies in using the technology.
The vast majority of adults (89 per cent) said they were against students using AI to entirely complete their coursework. But there was a divide between those who supported students using AI for punctuation and grammar (46 per cent) and those who didn’t (44 per cent).
Gender divide
The survey also revealed a difference in opinion between men and women. While 67 per cent of women said they opposed teachers using AI to mark coursework, this dropped to 57 per cent among men.
More women than men (40 per cent vs 29 per cent) also opposed adding responsible use of AI to the curriculum for secondary schools.
‘Transformational potential’
Duffy said: “AI is already in our schools and is not going away. A coordinated national strategy, with funding to ensure no schools are left behind, will build confidence in its transformational potential.
“The public is clear that coursework is too important to lose, even in the age of AI. It enables us to test different skills and to reduce the intense volume of exams taken at 16.”
The survey’s findings presented a challenge to “adapt coursework so it is fit for the AI century”, Duffy added.
Toolkits released by the government in June said it is essential that schools draw up an AI “vision”, using the technology for marking feedback, email writing and adapt materials for SEND pupils.
But schools were also told to plan for AI’s “wider use” in budget planning and tenders and to ensure safeguarding and privacy risks are monitored.
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