Mastering AI for Good - American Reformer

Education in the Age of AI

The rise of personal digital electronics and artificial intelligence (AI) has accelerated profound change in the modern world. In particular, these technologies have sparked sustained public debate about their place in education. Large language models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude make advanced cognitive tools available to virtually any student. Naturally, this has pushed teachers and professors to adjust their pedagogy and to reevaluate the purpose of education in a world where abundant knowledge is accessible with minimal effort.

Modern technology has had a uniquely transformative effect on society, as shown by the rapid adoption of the smartphone. In the post-medieval Western world, only two other periods of technological innovation seem comparable in significance. The first was Gutenberg’s invention of the movable-type printing press. This innovation greatly increased the availability of texts, and that abundance was met by a broadened emphasis on reading, language, and translation. Early Protestantism sought to educate the general public, with the Bible as the foundation of learning. In his 1524 treatise To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany That They Establish and Maintain Christian Schools, Martin Luther expressed this educational vision, arguing that “if the Gospel and all the arts are to remain, they must be written and bound in books.” He called for the establishment of schools, libraries, and the study of languages and significant texts. In the centuries that followed, this broadened educational movement helped cultivate citizens capable of participating intelligently in representative government.

The second transformative period was the Industrial Revolution. Steam engines, electricity, railroads, factories, and efficient production became increasingly widespread. In response, new professions and disciplines emerged to help society master these complex industrial systems, while factory labor became a dominant force in economic life. As cities grew denser around developing industries, one notable Protestant response was to continue the earlier tradition of educational development, but in a form suited to a new urban populace. One example was Robert Raikes’s Sunday school movement, which emphasized scriptural literacy, comprehension, and moral conduct. William Booth’s Salvation Army was likewise deeply committed to instructional development during this period. Although it did not primarily operate schools, the Salvation Army provided religious instruction, anti-vice initiatives, and vocational training in an effort to restore and strengthen ordered individual life amid the social disruption of rapid industrialization.

The third, and current, transformative revolution is the disruption brought by digital technology and its cognitive offspring. As AI has expanded the capabilities of personal computers and smartphones, tasks such as information retrieval, drafting, summarizing, coding, analysis, and writing have become dramatically more accessible.

With this new abundance comes an opportunity to develop mastery over a powerful technology. Yet that opportunity has not been firmly seized. Student scores have declined alongside the rapid adoption of laptops and tablets in education, and the response to the recent integration of AI has been scattered. It is clear that student access to AI creates a strong temptation toward oracular dependence. Even at Ivy League institutions, AI-based cheating has become a significant concern. Some schools have experimented with alternative forms of chatbot integration, such as an Estonia-based initiative that provides students with a “Socratic” chatbot that does not give direct answers, but instead prompts them into dialogue for deeper understanding. Despite some promising results, including evidence that this approach may reduce the “AI crutch” effect seen when exam scores fall after students rely too heavily on generative AI while studying, such efforts still appear to be a thin patch over the much larger challenge posed by the AI revolution as it unfolds in real time.

One insight that may help clarify the proper use of modern technology in education is the recognition that information transfer is only one part of holistic education. In other words, knowledge alone should not be the sole lens through which an educated student is judged. Knowledge can become useless, or even harmful, if it is not directed toward productive ends and guided by ethics. John Amos Comenius, the renowned seventeenth-century Protestant educator, describes this broader vision in The Great Didactic. He argues that knowledge, virtue, and piety “must be acquired by prayer, by education, and by action,” thereby extending instruction beyond mere information acquisition.

This broader framework of education also has a deep historical root in America, especially in relation to the formation of citizens for the republic. In Of the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic, Founding Father Benjamin Rush writes that “the only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty.” Rush viewed education in religion and virtue as integral to the functioning of republican government. This kind of moral formation clearly involves more than information gathering; it also includes the transformative development that takes place through action. Even something as simple as athletic participation can provide an environment in which virtue is formed, tested, and refined through both competition and collaboration.

As AI continues its inevitable advance into modern life, a proper understanding of its role in education must be maintained. As with the two previous major technological revolutions, an abundance of novel tools must be met with an initiative toward mastery. Just as Luther harnessed technological change in his own day through writing, translation, and the publication of catechisms, sermons, and other resources, so we must learn to master the emerging technologies of the digital age. This will not happen by shunning AI, but by training students in its proper use. Building their capabilities in logic, rhetoric, and practice, while also inculcating theology and virtue, will provide a robust foundation upon which digital tools can be wielded with mastery rather than servitude.

The capability of technology will only continue to grow. As it does, education must continue to cultivate human mastery over our tools so that, despite the abundance of artificial cognition, mankind does not relinquish its pursuit of virtue, order, and wisdom.