AI IS RUINING EDUCATION — CAN MUSIC SAVE IT?
Note: This article discusses Artificial Intelligence (or A1, as some have referred to it). Before reading on, take a swig of coffee and embrace it for what it is—a thought exercise. Promise to keep an open mind?
In a recent piece in The Atlantic titled "I'm a High Schooler," AI Is Demolishing My Education, a student author vividly describes the adverse effects of AI in the classroom. Her point is clear: AI isn't just altering homework habits—it's undermining the very essence of the school system.
She argues that AI has denigrated the entire educational experience into a well-worded prompt followed by "command-C, command-V." What once required sweat, time, and maybe even a few tears now takes mere seconds.
As she put it: Why worry about actually learning anything when you can get an A for outsourcing your thinking to a machine? AI doesn't just enable cheating—it distorts the educational landscape. The product matters more than the process, the grade more than the growth, and the destination more than the journey. That's not education; that's a factory.
Her premise is as eloquent as it is correct. AI is corrupting the learning process and devaluing the students who put in the real time and effort.
It's another tool that enables the lazy and emboldens those who want to shortcut their way through school and life.
Or, maybe it's not.
(Remember, you promised me an open mind. So, take another sip of coffee and take a deep breath)
Let me ask you this: how would you feel if your students showed up one day able to play every technical passage, demonstrate good tone in every register, and understand the difference between just intonation and equal temperament? What if when asked, your students could answer any question and discuss the piece and composer history with complete confidence?
In short, what would happen if your students came in ready to dispense with the redundancy of drill and practice and be prepared to make real music?
Would you be upset or thrilled? Be honest! Of course, you would be thrilled. So would I.
No more teaching by wrote and banging every note into the third section of the clarinets. No more playing the same passage over and over hoping for improvement before contest. No more explaining fingerings or reminding students to sit up straight. Just you and your students, exploring tonalities, making musical decisions, and experiencing the joy of making art. It's a dream.
Now here's the twist: what if it was AI that helped to get them there? Would you care?
Consider how AI can currently help your students. AI can:
Help detect and correct a bad embouchure, complete with visuals
Teach students how to articulate better from experts on the instrument
Play better in tune - using real playing samples from the student's music
Offer alternate fingerings to help facilitate an All-State passage
Help students understand just intonation versus equal temperament
Remind students to change a reed or clean their instrument, providing clear instructions and visuals.
Artificial intelligence can do all of this right now, and so much more.
Before you discard it as futuristic or unrealistic, consider the intelligent tools you and your students already use, such as tuners, Harmony Directors, SmartMusic, Pyware, and tone visualizers. All of these are using some form of artificial intelligence to accelerate learning, remove barriers, and increase student and ensemble performance. AI merely extends that list of possible tools.
And it's not just good for students. It's good for you too!
Let's be honest—you are already likely using some form of augmented or smart technology to make your own job easier: online grade books, Grammarly, Canva, smart boards, iPads, apps, digital metronomes, digitized scores, etc.
If our teaching forefathers (think Fredrick Fennel) were to draw a hard line between "real teaching" and "tech-teaching," you and I crossed it years ago. However, as someone who was at the forefront of the band movement, I would like to believe the good ole' Frederick would have welcomed any tool that would enable us to break down barriers, accelerate learning, and create better ensembles.
Think of AI as just another tool. A pedagogical resource and personal assistant all wrapped up into one.
Got a question about oboe reeds and playing in tune (and who doesn't), ask AI.
Have your march and closer picked out, but need a Grade 3 ballad that doesn't require French horns? Type away.
Looking for a 6-week plan to teach a specific style to your vocal jazz ensemble, complete with audio examples? My buddy AI has got your back.
Does your principal need a formal proposal for funding for six new upright basses, complete with a depreciation schedule by the end of the day? You know what to do!
The value of artificial intelligence lies not in the technology itself, but in how—and when—we use it. Our responsibility as music educators is crucial. We must balance the product with the process, the polished performance with the messy, and the human journey that creates it. We are the ones who can guide students through the flawed humanity of music-making while pushing them to reach further than they thought possible. I, for one, am willing to consider any tool that will make me a better teacher, help me use my time more effectively to be student-focused, and optimize the learning environment for all ensembles.
But more than that - like all things on the interwebs, I want to use a computer to do the things that I can't do, so I can focus on the things it can't do.
AI can't facilitate a memory, create a safe space, or be a trusted mentor. It can't share an emotion, show joy in an accomplishment, or shed a tear in frustration. It cannot fear, feel, or be afraid of anything. It can't read the room and adjust the lesson plan in real time, because it is not real. It is not human. It is not YOU!
AI is a tool, nothing more, and nothing less. It can't augment the process or enhance the student's experience. These are the roles that only we, as educators, can fulfill. They are as unique as they are impossible to replicate. In a world in which AI can do a multitude of things and replace a multitude of people, it only serves to make you more valuable – not just because of what it can do for you, but more importantly, what it can't do for kids.
The student in The Atlantic may be right. AI is changing education. But she never stepped into a music room– a place that's alive, messy, profoundly human—a place where we don't live to teach kids, we teach kids how to live.
Ok, now take another sip of coffee before responding. Unlike AI, I am human and have feelings after all.
Have a great week!
Scott