Apple News In Conversation Schools blocked ChatGPT. Now they embrace it. What changed?
Oct 2, 2025
Vauhini Vara, a contributing writer for Bloomberg Businessweek, dives into the transformation of U.S. classrooms as they embrace AI. She reveals how schools shifted from blocking tools like ChatGPT to integrating them for lesson planning and student feedback. Vara discusses the influence of tech companies, the potential risks of privacy and critical thinking, and what AI means for teachers and students’ futures. She highlights the mixed outcomes of AI use, in both excitement and dependence on educators, while sharing her own experiences with AI in her writing.
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Why Schools Rapidly Embraced AI
- Tech companies pushed AI into schools by offering resources and partnerships when districts lacked funds and political will.
- This created rapid adoption as companies framed classroom exposure as building the future workforce.
A New Phase Of Tech Influence
- Current AI push is a continuation of prior tech influence but with new tactics like union partnerships and training institutes.
- These unprecedented moves deepen vendors' direct role in shaping school decisions and practice.
Don’t Treat Short Studies As Definitive
- Expect mixed, inconclusive research on AI effects because long-term studies don't yet exist.
- Avoid sweeping claims of benefit until robust longitudinal evidence accumulates.
