by Spencer Lombardo
Most teachers are concerned about their students’ education amid the looming artificial intelligence revolution, a recent survey shows.
Fifty-four percent of K-12 teachers say AI is making it harder for their students to learn critical thinking skills, IPSOS reported Friday. NPR/IPSOS surveyed a representative sample of teachers between April 27 and May 5.
Forty percent of teachers said AI has had a negative effect on education, whereas only 9 percent said it’s been positive, according to the survey. Additionally, 57 percent of teachers said AI is making it harder to assess their students’ knowledge level, and 59 percent said AI is tarnishing trust between them and their students.
The NPR/Ipsos poll revealed deep teacher unease beyond the headline numbers. Nearly three-quarters of K-12 educators believe AI will have a greater impact on education than previous technologies like the internet or computers. A majority (55 percent) view AI primarily as a shortcut that lets students avoid real work, while concerns about academic integrity and diminished independent thinking run high.
Despite 78 percent of surveyed teachers saying they believe students should be taught how to responsibly use AI, over half (52 percent) said their school has not offered clear guidance on AI.
However, 69 percent said AI has made them more efficient, according to IPSOS.
Stanford’s Educational Opportunity Project estimated that reading scores declined in 83 percent of school districts where data was available in 2025 compared to 2015, The New York Times reported on May 13. Math scores also reportedly declined in 70 percent of school districts over that same time period.
Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI gave millions of dollars to teachers unions to promote AI training, the Associated Press reported last October.
Big Tech will likely spend $5.3 trillion on AI in fiscal years 2025 through 2030, Goldman Sachs projected on June 3.
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Spencer Lombardo is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. Executive Editor of <strong>The Tennessee Star</strong> and <strong>The Star News Network</strong> Christina Botteri contributed to this report.
