August 13, 2025
(Washington): On Tuesday, Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) scholars Clare Morell and Chloe Lawrence submitted a public comment responding to the Department of Education’s proposed grantmaking priority of “advancing artificial intelligence in education.”
This federal action would prioritize grants for projects that “promote the appropriate integration of AI into education,” including providing AI training for educators and building “AI literacy” among students.
Morell and Lawrence expressed support for proposed priorities that encourage computer science education, including instruction on AI tools, for high school and post-secondary students, as well as priorities that encourage AI-optimization training for teachers.
However, their comment also urged caution and recommended removing or narrowing more general promotion of AI literacy and the integration of AI tools into classroom learning. The scholars especially urged caution in integrating AI into subjects where it would undermine learning, like the humanities, pointing to research that shows critical thinking, problem solving, and memory skills are all undermined by incorporating AI into these subjects.
“Our overall concern is that integrating AI into general classroom instruction and personalizing it for individual student learning will only accelerate the negative trends caused by the EdTech revolution: lower scores, cognitive problems, access to harmful content, and more. The nascent research on the impacts of AI chatbots and LLMs suggests that AI poses new threats to children’s learning as well. If it is not limited to the appropriate classroom settings and age groups, it is poised to undermine the development of children’s literacy, problem solving skills, critical thinking, writing, and creativity.” – Clare Morell and Chloe Lawrence
***
Media Inquiries:
Hunter Estes
Director of Communications
Ethics and Public Policy Center
[email protected]
