Educators have a lot of questions about AI. Well, when I want practical insight on ed tech, I frequently turn to the ever-thoughtful Michael Horn—lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, co-founder of the Christensen Institute, co-host of the Future U podcast, and author of many books, including Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools. As we navigate big talk and dire warnings about what AI means for schools, I reached out to Michael for a reality check. Here’s what he had to say.
—Rick
Rick: Michael, evangelists are touting AI’s transformative promise in schooling. At the exact same time, schools are being urged to ban phones, limit social media, and reduce screen time. These strike me as contradictory takes on the role tech should play in classrooms—one fueled by optimism, the other by a growing backlash.
You’ve thought about these tensions more deeply than almost anyone. How should we make sense of them? Is this situation less contradictory than it appears, or are the schools racing to embrace AI simply repeating the mistakes of the recent past?
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