How is AI changing education, Professor Makarova?
Text: Elena Makarova, educational scientist
AI systems are finding their way into the worlds of education and work. What does this mean for schools and universities? Perspectives from the educational sciences.
At the very latest, since the launch of ChatGPT and the rapid spread of other AI-based applications, it has become clear that artificial intelligence is not just a passing trend. Rather, AI represents a profound transformation that poses new challenges for the education system.
With the increasing use of AI in students’ everyday lives, digital inequality is becoming more prominent. This is not just about whether all learners and teachers have access to reliable equipment, the internet and AI tools. It is also crucially about whether teaching can be designed to enable young people to make sensible use of AI and critically examine its output. For students to use AI competently, creatively and responsibly, there is a need for a solid infrastructure, inclusive learning environments and the targeted promotion of digital skills.
Part of this also involves understanding how AI works. Students should be able to comprehend how algorithmic systems influence decisions, how content is produced and disseminated and where bias can occur. It’s just as important to recognize which interests and values are written into the technologies.
In this context, career guidance, as an integral element of the Lehrplan 21 curriculum, is also challenged. The question is not so much about which professions will disappear or emerge due to AI, but rather how existing professions will change. Studies show that young people’s career choices are also guided by how strongly they associate a profession with AI. This assessment can be a source of uncertainty in the transition from school to the world of work.
Career guidance must therefore take the changing world of work into account and provide young people with realistic insights. At the same time, it’s important to support all young people equally and question stereotypes — such as the notion that boys are more tech-savvy and might navigate AI better than girls. By doing so, it’s possible to prevent young people from making decisions that prematurely limit their studies and career choice.
Inclusion in digital and real spaces
With the growing presence of AI, there is also an increasing relocation of belonging, recognition and social orientation to digital spaces and social platforms. Accordingly, there is a greater need for schools to create places where democratic values, diversity and a sense of belonging are reinforced. This can help to combat fragmentation, exclusion and polarization. Overall, the aim is to empower young people to take on an informed, critical and responsible role in society.
The use of AI requires, not least, that particular attention be paid to educational diagnostics. The assessment of academic performance impacts educational pathways and life opportunities. If AI is responsible for an assessment, either partly or in whole, this raises questions around fairness and equity. There is therefore a need for transparent criteria, verifiable procedures and clear human responsibility in decision-making. This is the only way to avoid reinforcing existing social inequalities and legitimizing them based on data.
In conclusion, it’s vital for educational institutions to consciously reflect on and proactively shape their engagement with AI — with a particular focus on equity and inclusion in education. All stakeholders in the education system are called upon; however, targeted professional development for teachers in the use of AI is particularly important.
Elena Makarova is Professor of Educational Sciences at the University of Basel. Her research focuses on acculturation and adaptation in the context of migration, career orientation and gender, as well as on the formation and transmission of values.
More articles in this issue of UNI NOVA (May 2026).