How AI Can Help Empower Teachers

By Francie Alexander, Senior Vice President, Efficacy & Consulting Research and Amy Endo, Education Research Director, HMH

Recent research from HMH reveals four distinct profiles of teacher users of Artificial Intelligence (AI), each with their own strengths and needs: Digital Pioneers. Pragmatic Streamliners. Aspiring Users. Reluctant Adopters. The personas were crafted through a combination of examining teachers’ perceptions and value of AI, their current usage of tech and AI, and their outlook on AI’s benefits and pain points.

The key to harnessing AI’s potential lies in understanding and supporting the needs of each of these groups of teachers and the diverse ways they use this technology. How can we leverage the unique abilities and needs of each persona to advocate for using AI to enable classrooms where teachers have more time to inspire, connect, and engage with their students?

Before we dig into the educator profiles, let’s first consider how teachers broadly feel about AI. According to a nationwide survey released by HMH, more than three-quarters of educators believe generative AI to be valuable to their work, and nearly 3 in 4 teachers who use AI say it saves time, allowing them to focus on the most critical part of their job: nurturing young minds. These findings are consistent with a survey released by E4E last spring, which found that 82% of teachers believe AI can help improve their instruction and capacity.

We must remember, however, that true success lies in centering and empowering teachers and using AI as a tool to enhance their impact. In HMH’s Educator Confidence Report and AI white paper, Empowering Education with AI, teachers were asked to share their experience using AI in the classroom, and while there is increasing interest around AI, there is a significant need for guidance on how it can best be implemented. Not every educator is on the same page when adopting AI, and that’s okay. While AI use among educators increased fivefold from 2023 to 2024, their comfort levels and support needs vary significantly. Here’s a bit more about each type of user:

• Digital Pioneers are educators who have fully embraced AI and are already finding innovative ways to integrate it into their classrooms. They spend time outside school learning about the latest AI tools and use trial and error to determine how these technologies can best serve their students.
• Pragmatic Streamliners look to AI for its time-saving potential, readily using it to automate administrative tasks like grading or lesson planning. For them, AI’s primary value lies in making their work more efficient, allowing more time for other aspects of teaching.
• Aspiring Users are eager to explore AI’s potential but are constrained by a lack of time, knowledge, and support. These obstacles hinder their ability to use AI in the classroom effectively despite their desire to innovate.
• Reluctant Adopters, on the other hand, approach AI with distrust, skepticism, and a preference for traditional teaching methods. They are cautious of AI’s impact on student empathy, creativity, and critical thinking and are hesitant to embrace newer technologies without adequate guidance.

To empower Aspiring Users and Reluctant Adopters, schools and districts must prioritize comprehensive professional development that equips teachers to use AI responsibly and effectively. Without this support, very real concerns—including ethical challenges such as student plagiarism and fears of over-reliance on AI for shortcuts—may stifle the potential benefits of these tools. The reluctance of some educators to embrace AI isn’t due to resistance to innovation but rather a lack of support for efficient implementation as well as a concern about ethical implications.

For Digital Pioneers and Pragmatic Streamliners, now is the time to actively shape education policy by leveraging the time-saving and engaging aspects of AI to maximize effective instruction. By sharing our insights and experiences as educators, we can advocate for improved student learning, professional support that matches our challenges, and a future in which technology, including AI, elevates the teaching profession. Let’s lead the discussion on how to use AI to simplify our tasks and enhance the quality of education for every student we serve.