Peter Paccone, a social studies teacher in San Marino, Calif., has a new teacher's aid helping him in the classroom this year. He plans to defer to his helper to explain some simpler topics to his class of high schoolers, like the technical aspects of how a cotton gin worked, in order to free up time for him to discuss more analytical concepts, like the effects of the first industrial revolution. "What I feel that I don't have to do any longer is cover all the content," Paccone told a group of more than 40 educators in a May Zoom workshop, which he organized. If artificial intelligence is on the cusp of reshaping entire aspects of our society--from healthcare to warfare--the first realm that leaps to many minds is education: Asked a question online, the ChatGPT chatbot will produce an answer that reads like an essay. So as students and teachers prepare for a new school year, they are also grappling with AI's implications for learning, homework, and integrity.

ProJo can also help students work together and assess their growth and weaknesses, in both robot form and on a computer screen. It is one of a variety of teaching aids in development, boosted by artificial intelligence, that scientists and educators say could support tomorrow's classrooms. Typically, AI education products serve one function, such as assessing a student's literacy, tailoring tools to individual learners or performing administrative functions such as grading. Next-generation tools may do all of this in a single platform, serving at times as a peer learning partner, a group facilitator and a monitor for educators--a sort of superpowered teacher's assistant personalized for each student. A look at how innovation and technology are transforming the way we live, work and play.

For all the talk about how artificial intelligence could transform what happens in the classroom, AI hasn't yet lived up to the hype. AI involves creating computer systems that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. It's already being experimented with to help automate grading, tailor lessons to students' individual needs and assist English language learners. We heard about a few promising ideas at a conference I attended last week on artificial intelligence hosted by Teachers College, Columbia University. Shipeng Li, corporate vice president of iFLYTEK, talked about how the Chinese company is working to increase teachers' efficiency by individualizing homework assignments.

Artificial intelligence--the ability of a computer program to perform human tasks such as thinking and learning, sometimes referred to as machine learning--is changing classrooms in both K12 and higher ed. But robotics has some questioning whether AI is just a fad that will eventually fade into obscurity or alter teaching and learning processes as we know it. Experts discussed the topic at a recent conference for future K12 educators held by the Teachers College at Columbia University, "Where Does Artificial Intelligence Fit in the Classroom?" Borhene Chakroun, director of the division for policies and lifelong learning systems at UNESCO, kicked off the event extolling the future of AI technology and its potential to "profoundly alter every aspect of the teaching and learning process." He also acknowledged the implications of AI and how it is altering how machines and humans work together.