AI is already in the classroom: this is how it is revolutionizing education

Blanca got a 10 on her last Spanish History project at her high school. The infographic, about the early Christian kingdoms in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, was created entirely with ChatGPT and laid out with Canva, but the teacher wasn't able to detect the use of artificial intelligence. " The teachers enter the presentation texts into an AI detector, but we use humanizers so we don't get caught . Then I use the same detector they use until it says there's 0% artificial intelligence. We all do it that way," explains the 14-year-old student.

In recent years, the use of artificial intelligence detectors has become popular. These detectors analyze various indicators—such as repetitive sentences, overly coherent structures, excessive use of adjectives, or certain punctuation marks—to distinguish between texts written by humans and those generated by artificial intelligence. Their use, however, has become a vicious circle: students use them before submitting their work, and teachers afterward, with the intention of detecting possible cheating.

"I'm aware that students use artificial intelligence just like teachers are. Beyond the detector, I find out they do it because if you ask them about the work they've submitted, many of them have no idea. I'm not telling them not to use it; it's like when we used to copy from the encyclopedia years ago, but we need to change the approach to education so that what they copy is useful to them and they understand it. We can't teach the same way I did 30 years ago," says Marta Losada, a secondary and high school teacher at a Seville high school.

At Marta's school, there are no guidelines instructing teachers or students on how to use this new technology, but she insists that almost everyone uses it. The emergence of generative artificial intelligence has taken the vast majority of Spanish schools by surprise, where they are beginning to explore its use without training or clear guidelines. "Everyone explores the tools they consider at home. I'm learning, but I'm clear that if I knew how to use it better, I could do wonders," Losada points out.

A study by Empantallados and GAD3 published late last year revealed that 73% of Spanish teachers have used artificial intelligence tools at some point, primarily to generate ideas for lessons (64%) and to supplement content (50%), while 82% of students have used this technology.

In Spain, there are no specific regulations or guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence in educational centers, but the artificial intelligence law that the European Union implemented in the middle of last year does directly refer to this sector, stating that it is a high-risk sector.

"There's no model or guide written by the European institutions; there are only a series of best practices. Education is a national prerogative; it would be difficult to implement anything at the European level. In Spain, for example, it's very heterogeneous and varies widely within each community and even each institution. It's almost impossible to create a framework that can work in such a diverse environment," explains Antonio Aloisi, professor at IE Law School at IE University.

A lucrative business

Given the enormous potential and potential for using artificial intelligence in the classroom, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Edu , a version of GPT-40 designed for educational institutions. This tool offers advanced capabilities such as data analysis, web browsing, and document summarization, with enterprise-grade security and controls (no data sharing).

In Spain, IE University has been a pioneer in integrating OpenAI tools at an institutional level. The university signed an agreement with the lab earlier this year to provide both students and faculty with access to ChatGPT Edu. "We are aware of the revolution that artificial intelligence represents and have decided to prevent students from using it secretly in order to fully exploit its potential. Artificial intelligence can change education on two levels: doing better what you were already doing and starting to do things you weren't doing before," explains Begoña González-Cuesta, Dean of Education and Academic Experience at IE Business School.

"What used to take you a whole week, you now do in a morning," says González-Cuesta. "The police approach to preventing students from using it leads nowhere. The student will try to cheat, and the detectors don't work. You have to go another way. It's a dead end," he adds.

For its part, Google has introduced Gemini for Education, integrating its generative AI model into Google Workspace for Education. This initiative allows educational institutions to offer students and staff advanced AI tools, such as writing assistance, data analysis, and automatic summaries, within a secure environment.

The University of Jaén has been one of the first to expand its agreement with Google to offer access to the Gemini assistant through corporate accounts, both for faculty and students, and the University of Seville has also announced an agreement with the search giant to promote AI in higher education .

Similar to OpenAI's educational licenses, these partnerships provide additional protection for the data, as the conversations were not used to train the models.

The two artificial intelligence giants have embarked on a battle to attract large educational institutions to start using their products to transform the way they teach . Google has a certain advantage in this environment, having offered tools to teachers through Google Workspace for years, but OpenAI is moving quickly with major deals such as those with the London Business School and Arizona State University.

Likewise, while artificial intelligence giants are opening a front to capture the lucrative AI business in education, smaller edtech companies are beginning to shift their focus after the boom in virtual classes during the pandemic. Specifically, educational technology companies received only $3 billion in investment in 2024, compared to $17.3 billion in 2021, according to PitchBook. This loss of investor interest is due in part to the drop in subscribers following Covid but also to the rise of artificial intelligence and free tools like ChatGPT.

In fact, investment in generative artificial intelligence has continued to grow over this same period. In 2024, $51.4 billion was invested in this technology, compared to $16.5 billion in 2021 , according to PitchBook.

In this new scenario where startups seek to offer products to improve teachers' work or time management, companies, especially Chinese and American ones, are beginning to emerge and are attracting the interest of investors. One of them is Squirrel AI, a Chinese company that uses an advanced tutoring system that personalizes learning for each student in real time. It is valued at $1 billion.

Another example is Magic School , based in the United States and valued at $270 million after recently closing a $45 million round. This platform, already used by 2 million teachers, offers educators tools to facilitate the planning, creation, and customization of content, activities, and learning situations.

But investing in this technology, whether through licensing from major players or small startups, entails an additional cost that not all educational institutions can afford. At the Complutense University of Madrid , Jorge Gómez, Vice-Rector for Technology and Sustainability, assures that there is still no standardized use of AI, but they are beginning to experiment with it on their own.

"This technology is expensive. It can mean higher costs per person than we currently pay for almost any other tool. That's why we're making moves toward open source technologies. It's not common to read this in the press, but services like ChatGPT can be deployed for free on your own premises. They don't have the same performance, but at least it will provide a foundation that will allow faculty and students to access a free, independent, and stable medium."

A future of changes

For now, artificial intelligence in education, as implemented by some European countries, is geared "to help students understand what it is and what it isn't, that is, to understand it as a tool for learning and practicing," says Inma Martínez, a member of the SEDIA Council and advisor to international agencies on artificial intelligence in the G7 and OECD.

"But the way we test students is already beginning to be considered outdated, and that's why artificial intelligence is beginning to show that what matters most isn't memorizing concepts, but knowing how to put them into practice, think, and reason," she points out. "The fundamental question that artificial intelligence raises is: are we really teaching students to know how to think and reason, or is the current education system in need of a radical transformation?" the scientist asks.

When this question is posed to teachers and experts, the answer is clear. Education as we know it will have to change and adapt to this new technology, which will alter not only the way classes are taught, but also the subjects and trades studied.

"Education is one of the professions that will suffer the most, and at the same time benefit the most from the dramatic transformation that artificial intelligence will bring," says González-Cuesta. "We don't want the new generations to stop developing certain skills, and we fear that their intellectual potential will diminish. Social media has already done this, but with artificial intelligence this can increase; the impact will be much greater. Furthermore, the role of the teacher will change. They won't disappear, but they will transform," the dean points out.

For his part, the Vice-Rector for Technology and Sustainability at the Complutense University has some doubts about the future of artificial intelligence in education and insists that "the role of teachers will not change in essence, which is to ensure that the skills expected of the subject are acquired."

Furthermore, although studies are now beginning to be published that aim to determine whether this technology has a positive impact on students, Gómez asserts that " technology is not good when it impedes the acquisition of skills , and that's where teachers must monitor its use." "Fortunately, individual tests without internet access continue to exist. A student who doesn't acquire skills during the semester through their own effort doesn't have the same guarantees as someone who has," he adds.

Experts point out that professions such as translator or programmer will be meaningless in a few years, so the future of education will have to be redesigned based on a new work environment. "We are seeing that in two years, many professions will be redefined. We don't know what will happen, but everything will change. There are some that will be meaningless; they will disappear. Others will be transformed, and new ones will emerge. Creativity and imagination will be fundamental," concludes the dean of IE University.