Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how artificial intelligence technologies will benefit education, particularly regarding how it can benefit the teaching of pupils.

Artificial intelligence (AI), when made safe and reliable, represents an exciting opportunity to give our schools leaders and teachers a helping hand with classroom life. The government is working closely with our regulators to understand their readiness to respond to the opportunities and risks relating to AI. Ofsted and Ofqual both published policy papers in April 2024 outlining their approach to AI.

Research shows parents want teachers to use generative AI, allowing them to focus on helping children in the classroom with face-to-face teaching. This supports the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.

Widespread use of generative AI tools is only possible once the basics of connectivity, devices, and capability are in place. The department continues to support the sector to build these fundamentals of technology.

It is important that the department gathers evidence to understand how AI technologies can benefit education. To support with this, the department launched a call for evidence on generative AI in education on 14 June 2023. It closed on 23 August 2023 and we published the report on 28 November 2023. The call for evidence sought views and experiences from practitioners across all stages of education as well as the EdTech sector and AI experts.

The department also commissioned a ‘Use cases for generative AI’ or ‘Hackathons’ project, working with Faculty Science Ltd in partnership with the National Institute of Teaching to further understand possible uses for generative AI in education.

The department is continuing to assess how AI will benefit education and benefit the teaching of pupils and will share more in due course.

The department needs to ensure that AI is safe and effective. In August 2024, we announced the Education Content Store, a joint pilot with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which aims to make the underpinning content and data that are needed for great AI tools available to developers, including tools for teachers to support their teaching. In parallel, the department has launched innovation funding to encourage developers to make use of the content store and stimulate the market to create high-quality marking and feedback tools for teachers.

The department has committed to publishing a safety framework on AI products for education, due later this year. My hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Early Education will meet education technology companies before setting out clear expectations for the safety of AI products for education.