While half the world wonders how to integrate AI into schools, Norway has found the answer: by not doing it

The artificial intelligence has arrived like a meteorite, impacting practically all sensors and not only destroying the consumer technology segmentbut causing governments work against the clock to implement it in all possible places. Education is something that has not been left outimpacting from primary school to university studiescausing a search for ways to both regulate and coexist with technology.

The one who is clear is Norway, which has just slammed the door on artificial intelligence in primary schools. The goal? That generative AI does not affect the early education of its young people.

Back to school. This past Friday, the Nordic country advertisement a practically total ban on generative AI tools in schools. This is one of the first countries to impose such severe restrictions on young people and the Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, has detailed a little how the matter will be addressed, alluding that the measure is necessary because they are observing a decrease in grades.

Starting with the new course, which will begin at the end of August, AI in the classroom will go at two speeds:

• Students from first to seventh (ages 6 to 13) will not be able to use AI.
• Those in lower secondary school (between 14 and 16 years old) can adopt these tools under the supervision of teachers.

With nuances. There we talk about primary and the first years of secondary school, but if the question is how young people are going to emerge from their studies “isolated” from this technology, the answer is that at home it will depend on each family and that, in the regulated educational environment, upper secondary students (from 17 to 19 years old) will be guided to learn to use AI appropriately in order to be prepared for higher education and the world of work.

Protect children. Støre argues that they have made the decision due to fears that the use of AI will cause children to skip crucial stages in their education. “The most important thing in school is that our children learn to read, write and do mathematics,” commented the prime minister, arguing that “research shows that the disproportionate and uncritical use of generative AI in schools increases the danger of skipping important steps in learning.”

At Xataka we have already echoed several studies that put on the table how the use of AI for everything increases the boiled frog syndrome and they can even lead us to a state of cognitive surrender. In fact, the decision seems based on a recent report that revealed that AI tools were being used by three in four primary schools and more than 90% of upper secondary schools.

Not just AI. Despite everything, Støre did not present the measures as a frontal opposition to technology, but as something focused on promoting traditional education without an easy search for answers, so that young people do not skip these stages of cognitive evolution. In other areas, the prime minister pointed out that they have “great ambitions regarding the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence”, but that in terms of primary and secondary education, there are other priorities.

But, in the end, this frontal opposition to AI in early education is a measure that is in the same bag as the one taken in 2024 when the Government banned phones in schools and, in April of this year, they already commented that they were thinking about plans to prevent those under 16 years of age from accessing social networks. This is something that are studying other countries following the steps of Australia and, most recently, United Kingdom.

Other approaches. On the other hand we have China. The Asian giant aims to become the first world power in the short term and, within those plans and the Five-Year Plan roadmap, They consider AI a pillar of the future of education. Instead of banning technology in the classroom, teachers will be trained to find ways to teach children to use language models to solve problems and think critically.

The idea is that they know how to question whether the answers are correct, as well as verify information through multiple sources to achieve “AI literacy” from primary school. It is evident that it is another approach, of course, and one that comes not without controversy because the main criticisms focus on the fact that it is a position that will increase the social gap between families with different purchasing power.

Image | Jessica Lewis (edited)

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