The Importance of Human Connection in the Age of AI in Education
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As I concluded my student conferences, one conversation stuck with me. Steven had barely touched his final project for our computer science course, a virtual simulation of a piano, even though it had shown real promise at the beginning of the year. I knew he was capable of more, so I began our conference by telling him the following. Slowly it opened. Instead of talking about programming, his project, or his grades, Steven spent most of his time describing the anxiety and insomnia he suffered because his mother was sick. At that moment, the final project and the skills I wanted to evaluate didn’t matter. Steven had to talk and I had to listen.
AI in Schools: A Double-Edged Sword
The conversation also brought to light my complicated feelings about AI in schools. I have 130 11th graders in my computer science class at Chicago High School for the Arts. Feeding their projects into an AI tool could save me a lot of time. But if I had, I would have missed the details that made Steven who he was. No algorithm can replace the human dialogue that makes my students feel seen, challenged and understood.
Over the past year, I’ve been exploring AI tools that can help me plan more creative lessons, leave detailed comments on students’ work, and respond more effectively to a variety of learning and language needs. But Steven keeps coming to mind. I can well imagine a near future where AI systems provide instructions and feedback more efficiently than I ever could. It’s hard for me to imagine how an algorithm could have responded to Steven if I had fed him his incomplete final project. Would it have recognized fear or would it have labeled its poor performance as apathy?
Balancing Efficiency and Human Connection
Although AI promises incredible efficiency, we should use it in ways that strengthen teaching without weakening the human connections between teachers and students. The Teach Plus Illinois Policy Fellowship, where I am a fellow, recently surveyed Illinois educators about their attitudes and practices regarding AI. In our report, teachers shared real-world examples of using AI to save time on routine tasks and improve their lesson planning, while gaining more time to engage with students.
In my own classroom, I reinvest any time that AI saves me into a real dialogue with my students. Particularly when assessing student work, I’ve found that by talking to them – not just grading an assignment or outsourcing feedback to an AI tool – I get a more accurate picture of what students know and what they need. These conversations also create space for the stories they share. It takes time to deeply understand students and provide them with meaningful feedback, but that is exactly the type of human work that needs to be protected.
The Role of Schools Beyond Academics
Schools have always been places where students do more than just absorb content and learn skills; they also learn how to get along with others, manage conflict, and find mentors and role models. That human connection is so important, and at a time when 12 percent of students report using AI chatbots for emotional support, protecting our interactions is especially urgent. We cannot respond to this moment by leaving the teacher-student connection to AI.
Integrating Conferences to Enhance Assessment
One way to approach the AI era is to include conferences as a central part of assessment. Not only does this build connections, it also requires truly knowing what students can do. As students have more and more access to AI tools, a nice, sophisticated assignment tells me less and less about the student’s abilities. When a student in my class can’t explain why their code does what it does, I know they still have work to do.
System-Level Changes for Genuine Connections
At the system level, schools must create schedules and staffing models that protect genuine connections between teachers and students. This means viewing conference time as non-negotiable and not something teachers decide on their own. As districts begin to incorporate AI into staffing decisions, we need explicit policies that protect small class sizes and designated time for human contact.
I think of Steven a lot when I’m trying out new AI tools. Schools will change in the coming years, but the relationships that are the heartbeat of great classrooms must remain. There are so many students like Steven who don’t need fast and efficient feedback from AI. They need a teacher who listens and cares.
Andrew Rodgers, Chicago High School for the Arts in Chicago and 2025-2026 Teach Plus Illinois Policy Fellow
Andrew Rodgers is an 11th grade computer science teacher at Chicago High School for the Arts in Chicago and a 2025-2026 Teach Plus Illinois Policy Fellow.
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