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The lesson of social media is not that transformative technologies should be feared. It is that when children are involved, safeguards must come before harm – not after.
For years, social media platforms expanded with few meaningful protections for child safety, transparency, age-appropriate design, parental visibility or independent oversight. Only after mounting evidence of harm did policymakers begin responding in earnest. By then, millions of children had already been shaped by systems designed to maximize engagement.
Artificial intelligence (AI) gives us a rare chance to do better.
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AI has extraordinary potential in education. It can personalize support, extend teacher capacity, widen access and help students learn in new ways. But it can also shape how children think, write, reason and engage with the world. That is why this moment matters. Unlike social media, AI arrives with the benefit of hindsight. We already know what happens when powerful technologies become deeply embedded in the lives of children before society establishes clear rules for safety, accountability and transparency.
Higher education institutions are grappling with how to approach AI, as some instructors say the focus must be on teaching responsible use, rather than catching cheaters. (Hispanolistic via Getty Images)
We should not make the same mistake twice.
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A responsible framework for AI in education should begin with a simple principle: artificial intelligence must enhance human learning, not replace humans or their judgment.
Teachers must remain in charge of instruction, grading and curriculum. Parents must remain the primary decision-makers in their children’s education, with meaningful visibility into how AI interacts with their child, what information it collects, and how recommendations are generated. And students must continue developing the habits that define real learning: reasoning, writing, discernment, persistence and critical thought.
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That is also why this conversation must be about more than artificial intelligence alone. It must also be about Ethical Intelligence.
AI can make learning faster, more personalized and more efficient. Ethical Intelligence ensures it remains human. It asks the questions technology cannot answer on its own: What is true? What is good? What is fair? What does responsibility require? What kind of person is this tool helping a child become?
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That distinction is essential. Intelligence without ethics can optimize for convenience while weakening formation. It can deliver answers without judgment, speed without wisdom, and personalization without character. In education, that is not progress.
That means student-facing AI should meet clear standards before it is widely deployed. Those standards should include transparency about where and how AI is used; strong protections for student privacy; limits on data collection and commercialization; preservation of teacher authority over grading and instruction; prohibitions on manipulation, behavioral profiling and hidden influence; age-appropriate outputs; and meaningful parental notice, access and oversight.
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Just as important, educational AI should demonstrate both safety and effectiveness before it reaches millions of children. Classroom-based pilot testing should be the norm, not the exception. “Deploy first and regulate later” was the defining mistake of the social media era. Education cannot afford to repeat it.
That is also why this conversation must be about more than artificial intelligence alone. It must also be about Ethical Intelligence.
The deepest safeguard, however, is philosophical, not technical.
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Artificial intelligence should function as a tutor, coach, research assistant and productivity tool — not as a substitute for the intellectual and moral development of children. Education is not simply about getting answers. It is about learning how to think, how to judge, how to wrestle with complexity and how to grow in both knowledge and character. Resilience, wisdom, creativity and conviction are formed through effort, reflection and struggle. AI can support that process. It should never short-circuit it.
Every transformative technology brings both promise and risk. The internet expanded access to knowledge while introducing new vulnerabilities. Social media connected billions of people while contributing to serious harms, especially for young users. AI may become one of the most beneficial innovations in the history of education — but only if it is governed by a framework that protects children while preserving the true purpose of schooling.
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This is the rare opportunity now before policymakers.
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For the first time in the digital age, leaders can establish meaningful safeguards before a transformative technology becomes fully embedded in the daily lives of children. By insisting on transparency, parental rights, teacher authority, student privacy, age-appropriate design, independent testing and educational accountability, states can encourage innovation while making clear that technology must serve education — not the other way around.
Social media showed what happens when innovation outpaces responsibility. AI presents a rare opportunity to reverse that lesson. Before artificial intelligence reshapes childhood, we must ensure that Ethical Intelligence shapes artificial intelligence. The future of education, and the character of the next generation, depends on it.
Ed Pozzuoli is an expert in education law and CEO of Tripp Scott Law Firm.
