Pupils can avail more face-to-face with their teachers under government schemes for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in schools.
Education department (DFE) has started guidance for schools and colleges England How teachers can safely use generic AI.
This suggests that AI can cut administrative functions – such as letters, reports and planning lessons – to give teachers more time to work with students.
But guidance also asks teachers to check the output generated by AI for “accuracy” and insist that personal data should be protected.
Unions of school leaders have welcomed resources, but they said that further investment is required to unlock the possible benefits of AI in education.
Support material suggests that generative AI can be used to help teachers with formal assessment-such as generating quiz and “reacting to errors”-as the same “exam-style questions”.
Generative AI equipment can also help employees such as emails and letters, policy writing and planning travel trips.
A section of guidance shows how AI can be used to make a letter to parents and carers, about the outbreak of a head lice in school.
It said: “AI’s strategic implementation can cut administrative work for leaders, teachers and assistant employees, especially in areas such as data analysis, text plan, report generation and correspondence.
“It can help teachers to work directly with students and students and reduce the charge when implemented well.”
But teachers should only use “approved” AI tools in their settings, adding it.
AI should only be used by teachers for formal, low-spec marking-as the classroom quiz or homework, DFE has said.
Paul Whitman, General Secretary in School Leaders Union SeamSaid: “These resources are a welcome source of support for education employees.
“AI has a lot of possible benefits for schools and children to learn, but it is important that they are correctly exploited and any damage is avoided.
“Government investment is important in future testing and research because employees require reliable sources of evaluation – supported with evidence – on the benefits, limitations and risks of AI devices and on their potential uses.”
Pepe di’iasio, secretary to general secretary Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said: “The great ability of AI is to make the workload of employees easier which is inspired by system-wide pressures and is a major cause of recruitment and retention challenges.
“If we can get this right, it will improve the condition of working and help in addressing the teacher shortage.
“However, there are some major issues that need to be resolved and paramounts are ensuring that all schools and colleges have technology and training that they need.
“The budgets are extremely tight due to heavy financial pressures on the education sector and need to invest to feel possible benefits of AI.”
The DFE has stated that it is investing an additional £ 1 million in funds to accelerate the development of AI devices to generate detailed, sewn reactions to individual students.
Education secretary Bridget Philipson Said: “We are putting state-of-the-art AI equipment in the hands of our magnificent teachers how our children learn and develop-freeing teachers from paperwork so that they can focus on parents and students whether parents and students need the most: inspirational teaching and personal support.”
He said: “By using AI’s power to cut the workload, we are revolutionizing classes and running high standards everywhere – breaking the obstacles for opportunity to achieve and thrive.”
