Nearly half of young people trust AI more than humans for fact-checking, as report warns pupils may not see school as ‘legitimate use’ of time
Young people are concerned by the “failure” of their education to adapt and prepare them for the AI economy and society, it said
More pupils could no longer see school as a “legitimate use of their time” if the education system undervalues artificial intelligence (AI), a report has warned.
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England’s education system is trying to teach for an “AI-less world that no longer exists” as the majority of young people already use AI, according to a report by historian Sir Anthony Seldon and tech entrepreneur Tim Bunting.
Young people are concerned by the “failure” of their education to adapt and prepare them for the AI economy and society, it said.
The report, which includes a Public First survey of 4,021 young people aged 11 to 24 in England, found nearly nine in 10 (87 per cent) have used an AI tool.
But the survey, carried out in August, suggests only 9 per cent believe schools and universities are preparing them very well for a world with AI.
The report said: “Education has not kept pace with how – and how much – young people are already using AI, and that gap is starting to show up as a loss of perceived value in the institution itself.
“That is a very dangerous place to find ourselves in.
“In the absence of a robust, human response to AI in education, young people are placing their trust in AI.”
Nearly half (47 per cent) of young people trust AI over a person to check a fact, and young men are even more likely to trust an AI tool with fact-checking than a human, according to the Public First survey.
The report said: “If home, work and wider culture become saturated with AI whilst schools and universities behave as if AI were a temporary contaminant to be fenced off, then the legitimacy of the system begins to erode. Students, parents and employers will see the gap.
“The institution will look less like a serious preparation for life and work, and more like a protective fiction.
“If education continues to treat adaptation as optional, it will not merely fall behind. It will begin to lose authority and legitimacy.
“And if the state loses legitimacy, then parents and students will start to question the requirements of the system.”
It added: “It is possible that alongside physical absenteeism, we will see a rise in psychological absenteeism.
“There is a risk – currently underpriced in policy debate – that a school system which stubbornly undervalues AI at scale, will lead to more families and students not recognising it as a legitimate use of their time and effort.”
The report has called on the Government to adopt a 10-point action plan to for AI in education – which includes establishing a rapid response unit on AI inside the Department for Education (DfE) as well as forming a network of 100 “AI champion schools and colleges”.
Sir Anthony, co-author of the report, said: “Despite warnings, education has always been Britain’s Cinderella sector when it comes to technology, and with AI we are repeating the mistake at even greater speed and scale.
“Nearly nine in 10 young people are already using AI, quietly and largely alone.
“Schools, colleges and universities’ uncertainty about how to respond hasn’t been helped remotely by a vacuum in leadership from Government.”
Sir Anthony said: “We cannot afford to wait for perfect certainty before we act.
“Britain has the assets to lead the world on AI in education – what it has lacked is the urgency and the leadership.”
In January, the Government said AI tutoring tools would be available to schools in England by the end of 2027 in a bid to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and it announced a £23 million investment into expanding testing AI and “EdTech” products in schools.
The DfE has also established an AI Safety and Pedagogy Taskforce to work with educational and AI experts to build sovereign education benchmarks to assess the safety and pedagogy of AI in education.
The Government has said a refreshed curriculum will make sure young people have the digital skills they need for further education and employment, as well as the skills needed to spot disinformation.
A Government spokesperson said: “AI is a fast-moving, emerging technology that presents significant opportunities and challenges, which we take incredibly seriously.
“The new Education Secretary is leading the reform of the education system to equip young people for lives and careers in this rapidly changing world.
“As part of this, our refreshed curriculum will put foundational skills like oracy and mathematical literacy at its heart, make sure all young people have the digital skills they need for the future, and equip them with the skills to spot disinformation.
“We are introducing new, high-quality vocational pathways so every child has a route to a successful career and are helping schools harness the benefits of AI by building new safe AI tutoring tools, as well as investing £23 million to understand which technologies have the most impact.”