Is the push for more AI and ed tech in classrooms a big opportunity or big risk?

Inside Your Ed

Inside Your Ed
Is the push for more AI and ed tech in classrooms a big opportunity or big risk?
Feb 11, 2026 Episode 100

On the 28th of October 2021, the first ever episode of Inside Your Ed was released. Almost four and a half years later, I’m delighted to say that this is episode number 100 of Inside Your Ed – quite a milestone for a podcast with a tiny budget but a big interest in education policy.

Of course, little did we know in October 2021 that just a year later, the launch of ChatGPT would herald the emergence of a new form of Artificial Intelligence, or AI.

The long-term impact of this new Generative AI on our education system remains unclear, but that has not stopped the Department for Education, or DfE, from making not one, not two, but three announcements in the early weeks of 2026 on this very subject.

So what has the DfE announced in relation to AI and other forms of education technology, or ed tech? Are there any reasons to be cautious about the DfE’s direction of travel? And what will ultimately determine whether children and young people stand to benefit from a greater use of AI and ed tech in schools and colleges?

My guests are Renate Samson, a policy and data consultant who co-authored a major report last year for the Ada Lovelace Institute and Nuffield Foundation on AI in education, and Dr Cat Scutt, the Deputy Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching.

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