5 AI Education Trends According To A Microsoft Executive

The way schools have adopted AI has been unlike any other tech revolution Microsoft’s Matt Jubelirer has witnessed.

“We’ve always known that technological innovation puts pressure on schools to adapt, but I don’t think we’ve seen anything move at this pace,” says Jubelirer

In his work as General Manager of Education Marketing for Microsoft, Jubelirer is constantly meeting with educators and learning about their needs and how they are using AI these days. As part of that work, he’s seeing innovative AI uses in areas ranging from the classroom to administration in schools.

Here are some of the top trends he’s seeing around teaching with AI.

1. Differentiated AI Use

Even though the pedagogy is constantly evolving, educators are getting better at learning when and where to use AI, and with which students.

“We’re asking better questions,” Jubelirer says. “It’s not about, ‘here’s an AI chatbot, go nuts.’” Instead, educators are learning which tools might help specific students and how they can strategically use AI to support individualized learning.

Some specific examples Jubelirer points to include tools such as Reading Progress, which helps students practice reading out loud with the help of AI. Another example is Copilot’s study and learn feature, which is built with learning science in mind and asks students questions to promote learning rather than merely providing answers.

2. AI Literacy That Goes Beyond Prompt Engineering

As AI has evolved, so too have the education programs around it for teachers.

“AI literacy is no longer about, ‘Do I know how to prompt? What is prompt engineering?’“ Jubelirer says. “It’s about understanding the capabilities, being better at assessing the problems, and figuring out what context is needed to solve them.” And then learning to better understand whether AI should be used in this context at all.

Classroom educators are actively leading and fostering this conversation, which is increasingly important. Students today, Jubelirer says, want access to AI tools, but they also want to ensure these AI tools are used ethically.

3. An Emerging Trust Issue

AI is also causing some tensions between teachers and students that didn’t necessarily exist in the past.

“If you ask teachers what they’re concerned about, cheating and plagiarism is at the top of the list, and if you ask students what they’re worried about, being accused of those things is at the top of their list,” Jubelirer says, suggesting that this demonstrates that “there’s clearly a trust issue.”

He adds, “That’s a real challenge because when trust erodes, learning environments are not as effective as they could be. And I think it’s really important that we move to just more transparency.”

To that end, he advises more openness from educators and students about how they are using AI.

“I have seen examples where teachers literally show the students how they prepared for class using AI and then ask them for feedback, and I’ve seen the same in the inverse, where students are encouraged to try and use AI but then share,” he says.

4. Recognition That There Are Times AI Shouldn’t Be Used

As AI use increases among students and teachers, it has become clearer that there are times when AI should not be used. For instance, when it comes to grading, Jubelirer says AI can be really helpful on the preparation side, whether that’s developing a rubric or devising questions, but there’s a limit.

“We shouldn’t be using AI to grade people, because we need human judgment,” Jubelirer says. He adds it’s important that schools clarify which types of problems AI is suited to help solve, and continue to make sure their AI use emphasizes the human side of things.

5. AI Creating New Opportunities

While Jubelirer acknowledges challenges around AI use and valid concerns students have, he’s also optimistic about the potential of technology for young people who can now come up with an app or other idea and create products and projects at a speed unparalleled in human history.

“I’m really encouraged by how the collection of tools that have emerged empowers individuals to have a higher level of impact faster than we’ve ever seen before,” he says. “If we learn to get that right, and if we build the systems and the culture to support that, there’s really an opportunity for this next generation to change the world in ways that I don’t think any generation before it has had the capability or access to do.”