Tech companies are under pressure to develop improved AI tools for reducing teachers' workloads. Ministers have announced that they will grant AI models special access to the Department for Education's (DfE) resources. Education Minister Stephen Morgan hailed this move as a significant advancement for AI in the classroom, with the government investing £3m to establish a "content bank" of official assessments, curriculum guidance, and teaching materials. Although many teachers currently utilize AI to assist them, existing AI tools are not trained on material specifically designed or approved for use in English classrooms. The new content bank will enable developers to train their AI models to generate accurate and high-quality content like workbooks and lesson plans, according to the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT). Additionally, developers have the opportunity to submit their ideas for reducing teacher workload using the DfE's database, with £1m available in a competition. Each winner will create an AI tool to aid teachers with feedback and marking tasks by March 2025. Speaking at an international education conference in South Korea, Morgan called this initiative the first government-approved repository of high-quality education material optimized for AI development. He emphasized that when AI is made safe and reliable, it presents an exciting opportunity to support teachers and ease the pressures they face.

The investment aims to leverage technology to benefit hardworking teachers, alleviate workload burdens, and allow them to focus on face-to-face teaching. A DfE research report published on Wednesday revealed that training an AI model with targeted content could increase its accuracy from 67% to 92%. Pepe Di'Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, acknowledged the potential of AI to alleviate the overwhelming burden on teachers but stressed its importance as a tool rather than a replacement for human expertise and student interaction. Di'Iasio pointed out that the urgent issue at hand is the current struggle to recruit and retain enough teachers due to past government actions affecting pay and conditions. Chris Goodall, a teacher and head of digital education at the Bourne Education Trust, shared his positive experience using AI since November 2022. He assists teachers across 26 schools in the trust in utilizing AI to enhance lessons and reduce administrative tasks. Goodall explained that AI saves time, enabling school staff to prioritize student interaction, individualized feedback, and support. A DfE and DSIT study on attitudes towards AI in education revealed that most parents support teachers using AI to enhance their work. However, they expressed reservations about direct interaction between pupils and AI, citing concerns about the potential loss of essential social and technical skills and reduced human contact time, which could lead to unintended adverse outcomes.