Can artificial intelligence make learning easier, or does it risk weakening a child’s ability to think, experiment, make mistakes, and learn independently? This is the central question raised by acclaimed British children’s author Katherine Rundell.

Having visited numerous schools and spoken with thousands of students, Rundell argues that the widespread use of artificial intelligence in education could endanger the very skills schools are meant to cultivate: critical thinking, resilience, creativity, and independence.

Rundell is particularly concerned about situations in which a student’s work no longer reflects their actual understanding. Work produced with the help of artificial intelligence, she notes, can create an “illusion of competence” in children, while the essential process of wrestling with a problem and solving it independently never actually takes place.

Challenging a widely accepted assumption, the author asks: “AI, we’re told, will make learning more efficient. But is that what we dream of for our kids – an efficient childhood?”

In Rundell’s view, a great teacher does not merely deliver facts about Henry VIII. A great teacher teaches children to understand human character, construct arguments, speak before an audience, tell stories, share knowledge, and ultimately understand what it means to be human.

She also warns of a growing risk of educational inequality. If artificial intelligence-based teaching becomes the more affordable option, well-resourced schools may choose a less technology-dependent, more human-centred approach to education, while underfunded schools may become increasingly reliant on artificial intelligence.

Rundell does not advocate setting technology aside entirely. Rather, her core message is that a child’s education should not be built on the assumption that the fastest route is always the best one.

Emphasizing the vital importance of reading, Rundell describes reading books as a form of resistance, arguing that it develops knowledge, imagination, critical thinking, and intellectual freedom.