Generative artificial intelligence has quickly become part of everyday life, and the education sector is no exception. Teachers use AI to plan lessons and students use it to solve tasks. Charlotte Svensson, COO at Sanoma, sees significant benefits in Educational AI for schools, while also highlighting the risks associated with using general-purpose AI services.
As AI becomes increasingly accessible, its use in schools has grown rapidly.
General-purpose AI services are remarkable technologies in their own right, but they were not designed with pedagogy in mind. They are not connected to the curriculum, they can provide inaccurate answers, and they are built to encourage users to ask more and more questions, which can easily lead them away from the subject at hand.
General AI can also create a false sense of confidence among both teachers and students that learning has actually taken place.
“OECD studies show that general AI can help students complete a task more successfully. At first glance, the results look promising. However, when researchers measure what students have actually learned, learning outcomes are lower. Educational AI, which is built on curricula and learning materials, enables learning in a completely different manner,” says Charlotte Svensson.
Educational AI has been trained by experienced teachers and education professionals to support pedagogy and promote learning. Students with additional learning needs, in particular, can benefit greatly from pedagogical AI tools.
Some critics question whether AI should have any place in schools at all. Charlotte Svensson calls for a more nuanced view.
“We need a less black-and-white discussion around AI in education. It is neither a threat nor the solution to every challenge. This is not about choosing between analogue and digital learning, but about combining the best of both. A physical book remains an outstanding learning tool in its own right. AI as a teaching assistant saves time and improves quality.”
The combination of printed and digital learning materials is central to Sanoma’s vision for the future of education. AI has an important role to play, but above all as a support tool for teachers, not as a replacement.
“We have developed AI to act as a teaching assistant. Built around the textbook, it can quickly adapt instructions by simplifying texts for individual students, creating variations of exercises, or generating assessments. Everything is based on quality-assured educational materials.”
In practice, this means teachers do not have to start from scratch. Instead, they can build on the materials they already use in the classroom.
“It saves a significant amount of time. Teachers tell us they have more time to focus on their students and on teaching. They can also trust that the content is accurate, pedagogically sound and aligned with the course curriculum.”
Educational AI also makes it easier to personalise learning.
Today’s classrooms are increasingly diverse, with students bringing a wide range of backgrounds, abilities and learning needs. In that context, the ability to quickly adapt learning materials becomes essential.
At the same time, Charlotte Svensson emphasises that AI adoption must be approached thoughtfully.
“We have seen before that major technology investments in schools do not always deliver the desired results. The difference now is that the technology and pedagogy must be much more closely connected.”
Ultimately, the goal is to strengthen learning and assist teachers in their work.
“AI should not do the work for either teachers or students. It should support learning.”
This article was originally published as sponsored content by Sanoma Utbildning in Sweden in Magasin Fokus, DI Magasin and Svenska Dagbladet. AI was used to support the translation of the article.