Piloting Through Paradox with AI

This year will mark my 13th appearance at GESS and it’s a genuinely fascinating time to be working at the intersection of education and technology. During the show, I’ll be delivering a special encore presentation of the “Piloting Through Paradox” keynote I delivered to staff across all the JESS schools during the inset week in August and I think that this title really does sum up where we are at as an industry: a sea of paradoxes.

Artificial intelligence definitely sits at the heart of this, being one of the most polarising subjects I’ve seen in over two decades working in education. On one hand we’re told that AI is the future but concurrently we’re facing the greatest spike in academic integrity cases ever and also trying to protect vital learning skills from the generative beast at the door. Is it even possible to reconcile these things? Should we steer away from AI altogether or embrace it more readily?

Then there’s the threat of screen time and the rising groundswell of anti-tech sentiment within the parental community (which is clearly exacerbated by those elements within the media looking to generate clicks). How can we square this with the desire to innovate, especially here in the UAE where technology and innovation are built into the bedrock of the country’s goals? There’s no disputing the data; the impact of phones/screens on young brains is concerning and our teenagers are clearly suffering the longer term effects of the COVID era right now. So do we just ban phones or is that not enough? Do laptops and tablets need to go too? Should we be moving back to books and analogue tools?

What about data protection and the surge in cyberattacks in the education sector worldwide? We’re using more digital platforms than ever before, sharing data about staff and students alike and yet we’ve seen startling attacks in the UK, Europe and even here in the UAE in the last year that have shone a startling light on the vulnerabilities within the education sector. We’ve also seen parents start to take umbrage with the amount of data on their child that is shared with edtech companies. What happens when they insist on opting out? How do you deliver that lesson through Seesaw or Microsoft Teams when a quarter of your students are not allowed to use these platforms?

If you’re thinking “Wow, that’s a lot of questions,” you’d be right! There are indeed a lot of questions right now and to be honest, there’s no turnkey solution to any of these issues. The approach each institution will take will need to vary based on a wide range of factors. My sessions at GESS 2025 will definitely address these issues and I’ll even share the approaches we’ve employed across JESS but ultimately education leaders will have to chart their own course through this sea of paradoxes.

Steve Bambury

Head of Digital Learning & Innovation - JESS Dubai