Education

It’s not just students cheating: teachers’ surprising use of AI revealed

Teachers are turning to AI to aid them in the classrooms as the convenience outweighs the negatives.

Born in Leeds, Joe finished his Spanish degree in 2018 before becoming an English teacher to football (soccer) players and managers, as well as collaborating with various football media outlets in English and Spanish. He joined AS in 2022 and covers both the men’s and women’s game across Europe and beyond.

Update: Aug 14th, 2025 18:16 EDT

In a revealing new survey of 2,232 U.S. public school teachers, nearly 60% report having used artificial intelligence tools during the 2024-25 school year.

The data, compiled by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation between March and April 2025, is broken down like this: 32% of teachers use AI at least once a week, while another 28% use it monthly or less.

Most often, educators turn to AI for foundational tasks: 37% rely on it to prepare lessons, 33% to create worksheets or activities, and 28% to tailor materials to diverse student needs. Less common uses include grading, individual instruction, and analysing student data.

This teacher uses AI to bring children’s paintings to life in art class.pic.twitter.com/893FzIvWlK
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 17, 2025

“AI can produce output that is inappropriate”

Among teachers using AI for specific tasks, between 60% and 84% say it helps them work more efficiently, with just 7% reporting that AI actually slows things down. More than half of teachers also report improvements in work quality. Adoption, however, remains slow: 40% of teachers still don’t use AI at all, and just 19% say their school has an explicit AI policy.

“Educators recognise that AI can automatically produce output that is inappropriate or wrong. They are well-aware of ‘teachable moments’ that a human teacher can address but are undetected or misunderstood by AI models. Everyone in education has a responsibility to harness the good to serve educational priorities while also protecting against the dangers that may arise as a result of AI being integrated in ed tech,” the report said.

“There aren’t very many buildings or districts that are giving really clear instructions, and we kind of see that hindering the adoption and use among both students and teachers,” Zach Hrynowski of Gallup remarked. “We probably need to start looking at having a more systematic approach to laying down the ground rules and establishing where you can, can’t, should or should not, use AI In the classroom.”