Many Georgia teachers on AI: Do as I say, not as I do
ATLANTA — Georgia public school teachers have mostly found artificial intelligence to be a time-saving tool that makes them better at their jobs, but they say it is more of a burden than a benefit for students.
In a survey this spring that drew responses from 13,679 teachers in 150 of Georgia’s 180 school districts, the Georgia Department of Audits & Accounts found widespread use of generative AI among teachers with six to 20 years of experience and in core subjects except math.
Nearly 60% said they offload some work to the technology, with 89% of them reporting positive outcomes. They said it allowed them to create higher-quality instructional materials aligned with state requirements and tailored to student learning styles — and that it saved them time.
“I believe using AI for creating assignments, visual aids, and other instructional material is very beneficial,” one teacher wrote. “I enjoy that I can make material based on what my class needs are.”
They also used AI to write letters to parents, but few said the technology was helpful for tracking student progress, with 62% saying they never used it for grading.
They also were generally dubious about student use of AI.
Use of the technology is rare among elementary school students but increasingly popular as students age, with nearly a third of middle school students and just over half of high school students using it, according to the teachers.
They said students used AI for tutoring, feedback, brainstorming and studying, and that the tool was more popular for students in science and social studies.
Teachers were concerned that students were more likely to cheat by plagiarizing work with AI. They also said they were concerned the technology would reduce student interaction and collaboration, ultimately undermining how much they were learning and their ability to think critically.
Some teachers redesigned assignments to allow for AI use.
But many reported that they had effectively subdued the technology with strategies such as in-class writing, with some using applications or software to check whether their students had used it.
Some rejected it altogether, especially in elementary school, where writing and reading skills are foundational.
One teacher wrote that AI use was unethical. Another wrote that “studies have proven that it lowers intellectual ability!”
The state survey follows other research, such as a national report by the RAND Corporation in September that found just over half of students and teachers in three core subjects were using AI. The study noted few guardrails, with policy guidance lacking, calling the use of the technology in education “a fast-moving, real-time social experiment at scale.”
In Georgia though, about two-thirds of responding teachers said they received guidance or training, with most saying it was effective. However, that support was less likely in districts with higher poverty rates.