Large technology corporations are entering a new race to deeply integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into the education system around the world.
From high schools to universities, AI is increasingly seen as a tool that can change the way of teaching and learning, and at the same time prepare the younger generation to enter the economy led by technology.
In early November 2025, Microsoft announced that it would provide AI training tools and programs for more than 200,000 students and teachers in the United Arab Emirates.
Not long after, a financial service company in Kazakhstan reached an agreement with OpenAI to deploy ChatGPT Edu for about 165,000 educators nationwide.
Recently, xAI (Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company) announced a larger-scale project in El Salvador, developing an AI-based tutoring system based on the Grok chatbot for more than one million students.
These moves show that, with strong support from US technology companies, many governments are accelerating the deployment of generative AI in schools and universities.
Technology leaders believe that AI chatbots can support teachers in compiling lessons, creating test questions, analyzing learning data and personalizing content for each student. According to them, AI not only saves time but also helps students adapt to the labor market in the future.
However, the AI wave in education also faces many warnings. Child protection organizations and medical experts are concerned that early and uncontrolled exposure to AI may affect students' cognitive development and mental health.
A recent study by Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University shows that dependence on AI chatbots can weaken critical thinking.
In addition, AI bots sometimes provide false information but are presented very convincingly, making it difficult for students to distinguish right from wrong.
In fact, this is not the first time Silicon Valley has promised to revolutionize education with technology. For many years, programs to bring laptops and learning applications into classrooms have been widely implemented.
However, the "One Laptop per Student" project in Peru, which was once highly expected, has not significantly improved cognitive skills or learning outcomes, according to independent studies.
Therefore, when AI is promoted with similar arguments about accessibility and educational fairness, organizations such as UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) call for caution.
Steven Vosloo, UNICEF's digital policy expert, warned that uncontrolled AI use can reduce skills of both students and teachers, while wasting resources.
However, many education systems continue to cooperate closely with technology companies. In the US, large campuses in Florida have deployed Google's Gemini chatbot for students and Microsoft's Copilot for teachers.
In Asia, Microsoft cooperates with the Thai Ministry of Education to provide AI courses to hundreds of thousands of students and teachers, while OpenAI is committed to supporting teachers at Indian public schools.
Some countries choose a more cautious approach. Estonia is testing the "AI Leap" initiative, a national program to orient the use of AI in education, in the context that more than 90% of high school students in this country have used chatbots for homework.
This shows that AI in schools is a difficult trend to reverse, but the implementation will determine whether it is a support tool or becomes a double-edged sword for education.
