Schools need to teach children how to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools from the age of 11, according to industry experts.
The British Computer Society (BCS) has called for pupils to be taught to use tools such as chatbot ChatGPT, and for understanding of AI to feature more prominently at GCSE level.
The professional body said a new alternative digital literacy qualification was needed alongside computer science GCSE, with an emphasis on AI and other modern digital skills.
Julia Adamson, director of education at the BCS, said: “Young people need modern digital skills, like understanding how AI chatbots can help them in their life and career, but these aren’t covered in the current [computer science] GCSE, which is highly theoretical.
“The digital literacy options available need to change immediately so that the UK’s teenagers don’t get left behind.”
A survey carried out by RM Technology earlier this year suggested that more than two-thirds (67 per cent) of UK secondary students have used chatbots, such as ChatGPT, for their homework.
More than six in 10 teachers (66 per cent) believe they are now regularly receiving AI-completed assignments, the survey also showed.
“What we have now is great if you want to become a computer scientist - degrees in computing are more popular than ever,” Ms Adamson said.
“But children who aren’t going to specialise in coding early on also have a right to those essential digital skills, including understanding AI, so they can hold their own in the global workplace.”
The rise of AI in schools
BCS also said that understanding AI should become a key part of teacher training and headteachers’ professional leadership qualifications.
Some teachers have reservations about AI as part of pupil learning. A Department for Education consultation on the use of generative AI in education settings found that over-reliance on this technology was the most prevalent concern raised by teachers and leaders in their own teaching.
There have also been recent warnings from the Commons Education Select Committee that teachers do not always have adequate training and resources to teach digital media literacy.
However, there is still an increasing emphasis on AI in education. The DfE carried out a “hackathon” earlier this year to allow schools to experiment with AI in areas such as lesson planning and exam marking.
Results from this event will be published in Spring 2024, the DfE has said.
And academies minister Baroness Barran last month said the DfE was seriously considering how AI could be used to reduce economic inequality.
Meanwhile, Oak National Academy has been provided with £2 million to develop AI assistants in an attempt to reduce teachers’ workload.
However, the investment has been questioned by union leaders, who have warned about AI’s limitations and whether the Oak funding is the best use of stretched resources.
