AI as adult co-pilot
AI should remain mainly in the background, supporting teachers and parents as they create richer human-to-human learning interactions.
White Paper
White Paper
Education in the AI Era
A developmental framework for using artificial intelligence in education without weakening human thinking, ethical judgment, and learner agency.
Core Argument
AI should reduce unnecessary barriers while preserving meaningful intellectual effort.
The white paper argues that AI should not be used in the same way across all stages of learning. Its role should evolve according to the learner’s cognitive, emotional, social, and professional maturity.
Adaptive and Socratic support
AI can personalize practice and feedback, but it must include guardrails that preserve reasoning, explanation, and productive struggle.
Professional discernment
Students should learn to critique, verify, document, and defend AI-supported work in authentic professional and disciplinary contexts.
Central Principle
Intentional friction protects learning.
AI should not make learning frictionless. Good education uses AI to remove unnecessary barriers while preserving the intellectual effort through which learners build judgment, understanding, and agency.
Developmental Pathway
From protection to guided use to professional co-creation.
Protect relational learning in early childhood
Young children need embodied interaction, language-rich relationships, play, and adult mediation more than direct AI companionship.
Use AI for guided practice in K–12 education
AI can help teachers differentiate practice and feedback while requiring students to explain their reasoning and confront misunderstanding.
Teach transparent AI collaboration in higher education
University students should learn how to use AI ethically, verify outputs, disclose assistance, and maintain professional accountability.
Related media
The videos below introduce the white paper’s themes and the broader question of how education should adapt to generative AI.