Parents, Teachers, and Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom: Trust … BUT With Conditions
As part of my research initiative Emotion Encoded, I asked participants a simple but important question:
“Would you be comfortable if your child’s teacher used AI to help with grading or lesson planning?”
The responses depicted something powerful:
- 53.7% said “yes” , but only under conditions. Parents were open to AI as long as it performs its task and the teacher reviews every assignment and decision. This shows that parents are more open to AI being used as an assistant instead of a replacement. This highlights the value that humans place on human reasoning, rationale, and judgement.
- 26% said “no.” This group expressed resistance, showing a lack of trust in AI when it comes to something as rigorous and formative as their child’s education. Could this be because a child's education includes critical thinking and emotional intelligence that they think AI has not mastered?
- 11% said “yes” without any conditions. For this group, the use of AI was not seen as a threat but simply as another tool in the classroom.
Conditional trust for AI in the classroom from parents signals a bigger message. For AI integration into educational systems, psychology is important.
Status quo Bias? Automation Bias vs. Algorithm Aversion? Or Framing Effect?
This echoes a larger theme in my research initiative: AI is not simply about performance; it’s about how people emotionally negotiate trust with these systems.