Labour’s AI Strategy: What does it mean for schools & colleges?
Author: Matthew Dagnall
On Monday, Sir Kier Starmer set out a government plans to “grasp the nettle” of artificial intelligence (AI).
In a far-reaching speech, the Prime Minister outline ambitions to make the UK a creator of AI, rather than a consumer, with “AI growth zones” to ease the creation of datacentres by the private sector.
Also addressed was the planned creation of a National Data Library to make “high-impact” datasets like those held by the NHS, the BBC, and the National Archives available for research and commercial use.
However, the most headline-grabbing aspect of yesterday’s speech were plans to “unleash” AI on the public sector. This, of course, include schools and colleges.
So, what should school and college leaders expect from the government’s AI action plan?
Attack of the robot teachers?
So, should we expect AI-powered androids to replace our schoolteachers?
Well, as challenging as the recruitment and retention of staff has proven for the education sector in recent years, we’re not at that stage yet.
Rather, the intention is that embracing AI will “make public services more human”. Giving the example of doctors and nurses, the Prime Minister argued that this technology will allow “more time for the personal touch, the connection, the service that people really value”, by handling busywork.
In the case of schools, this could include lesson planning and marking.
And this should certainly come as good news to teachers, for whom workload is a resigning issue. Around 33% of new teachers leave within their first five years in the profession, with unsustainable workload a leading reason.
Similarly, joint research by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Education (DfE) shows parents “parents want teachers to use generative AI to have more time helping children in the classroom with face-to-face teaching”.
How will AI be used in schools?
So, what will AI use actually look like in UK schools?
Well, for one, we’ve known since last August of plans for a £3 million “content store” to train AI, filled with teaching standards, guidelines and lesson plans.
This will give teachers access to a more reliable tool for generating lesson plans.
Tools currently available to the general public (such as ChatGPT) are trained on data from across the world, so struggle to generate content that is specific to the UK’s curriculum and teaching standards.
Similarly, these general-purpose generative AIs are prone to mistakes – known as “hallucinations”. Providing quality data sets, like the planned content store, can boost the accuracy and reliability of AI output.
It’s also intended that this technology will be able to assist with marking.
As well as relieving staff of their existing workload, AI tools also have the potential to go beyond what is currently achievable by humans: for example, tailoring work to individual students’ needs across a whole class.
Who will develop this technology?
A £1 million funding pot has been set aside to support 16 developers (including startups and universities) in creating technology to support teaching staff in lesson planning and marking.
The prototype tools are scheduled to be developed by April 2025, although we don’t know exactly when class teachers can expect to get their hands on them.
Should we be concerned?
While many fear that AI will strip teaching of its humanity, targeting busywork like lesson planning and marking should hopefully sidestep this trap – and, as the Prime Minister argues, free teaching staff up for more quality contact time with pupils.
The DfE also pledged to publish a safety framework on the use of AI products in education last August.
Others have cast scepticism on whether the government will be able to pull this off, citing the poor state of existing technology in the public sector and its history of failed technological innovations, such as the Post Office’s scandal-ridden Horizon system and the £10 billion NHS patient record system which never materialised.
So – is it a good idea to use AI in schools?
Regardless of concerns around its use, in reality, AI is already transforming the UK education sector.
The Times Higher Education reported “soaring” rates of AI-based cheating at UK universities. And, without investment in the UK, ownership of AI tools and the cloud computing capacity that supports them will remain overseas.
The question then is not whether the education sector embraces AI, but whether we meet it on the front foot or not.
By taking its development into our own hands, we stand a chance of directing AI towards enhancing the quality of education instead of diminishing it.