Chris Agnew, managing director of Stanford University’s AI Hub for Education, explains why schools must respond thoughtfully to the rapid arrival of generative AI. Rather than starting with the technology, he urges education leaders to begin with the skills they want students to develop and the learning experiences that support those skills. AI should then be used to strengthen those experiences or remove barriers to them. Agnew suggests that AI’s greatest immediate value may be in improving school systems and supporting educators, with direct student use developing more cautiously as research identifies what truly improves learning.
