Understanding parent and pupil attitudes towards AI in education

The Department for Education (DfE) has partnered with the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTA) within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to better understand parent and pupil attitudes towards the use of AI in education.

Thinks Insight & Strategy conducted a rapid programme of deliberative research with 108 parents and pupils across three locations in England in a mix of face-to-face and online sessions.  This research also explored attitudes towards the use of pupil data for optimising  AI-powered educational tools.

Key findings within this report:

• While awareness of AI as a “hot topic” was high among both parents and pupils, understanding did not run deep. As a result, views on the use of AI in education were initially sceptical, though there was an openness to learning more
• Both parents and pupils could see that there were clear opportunities for the use of AI in education to support teachers, but there was some hesitation around pupils engaging with AI tools directly
• By the end of the sessions, parents and pupils could understand the advantages of using pupil work and data to optimise AI tools. They were more comfortable with this when data was anonymised or pseudonymised and they identified a set of clear rules for acceptable data sharing
• Opinions on the use of AI tools in education are not yet fixed: parents’ and pupils’ views of and trust in AI tools fluctuated throughout the sessions, as they reacted to new information and diverging opinions.

If you would like to learn more about the implications of AI within education and within governance book your place at our Devon Association of Governance Conference on Saturday morning, 16^th November 2024 at Exeter Racecourse, where we will consider how to ensure that effective governance can deal with whatever is coming down the track, including AI.

Please book your place by registering on the DAG website www.dagdevon.uk.  Early booking is recommended as places are limited.