(What) Should Schools Teach Students about AI? Teacher Perspectives on K12 AI Instruction

The arrival of generative AI in schools has altered the education landscape in myriad ways and raises issues from the pedagogical to the ethical. In this context, the perceptions of teachers regarding whether, what, and how students should be taught about AI are important to consider. For this study, we conducted semi-structured interviews with several dozen teachers, representing a wide variety of teaching contexts. Our analysis of the interviews revealed that most teachers support student learning about AI, but that their reasoning varied substantially. Rationales for supporting education around AI included encouraging best practices for AI use, preparing students for their futures, equipping students to critically evaluate AI output, and promoting academic integrity, among others. Other teachers were less supportive of AI education, worried that encouraging its use would engender over-reliance on it. Teachers also expressed a variety of perspectives on the ways in which AI might either help or harm learning, augmenting concerns about what and how students are taught about these tools. These educator perspectives constitute an important contribution toward the wider conversation about AI in schools.