The Good, Bad, and Ugly: AI in Early Education

Artificial intelligence is a hot topic in education. Plagiarism, losing creativity, and the decline in critical thinking capacities are all worries associated with the technology.  

Everything is moving so fast, and there’s so much information circulating about the topic that it can be difficult to navigate. So, what should we do now, and how does this affect the education of children birth through age 8—particularly when it comes to language development?  

“AI can provide incredible support for busy educators, but for early learners, hands-on activities are irreplaceable,” said Executive Director of the Deal Center, Dr. Lindee Morgan. “Real-world engagement builds language, cognitive, and social skills in ways that screens simply can’t.”  

“Tangible experiences help children connect words to meaning through creativity and human connection,” she said. 

Topics in this article:

• AI Support for Educators

• What educators can use AI for

• Precautions when using AI

•  AI and Digital Tech Birth Through Age 8 
  

AI Support for Educators 

While AI can’t replace true human connection and the power of imagination, it is excellent at reducing repetitive tasks. AI’s ability to minimize the time educators devote to repetitive tasks is a major advantage of the technology. 

“I have been teaching for 30 years, but I still like to use [AI] when I’m lesson planning,” said Dr. Cynthia Alby, professor of secondary education at Georgia College & State University. “I don’t use it extensively but say I’m not thrilled with a part of my lesson, I might ask for 10 ideas that would make that part more engaging.” 

What educators can use AI for: 

• Fine-tune and convert lesson plans into rubrics

• Curate and adapt ideas for different classes or topics, refresh or renew lessons 

• Suggest engaging activities for class topics that accomplish an instructional goal

• Create handouts 

• Copyedit class materials

With any power comes great responsibility, and experts have a few considerations for when it comes to using AI. 

“’Garbage in, garbage out’ is what I tell my students,” said Dr. Natalie Toomey, assistant professor of Professional Learning & Innovation at Georgia College. “If your prompt is weak, what you get back will be weak. Make sure you already have knowledge about the topic, so you can fact-check it yourself.” 

Precautions when using AI: 

• Assume what information you give to AI is public, and only use FERPA-compliant apps when it comes to personal identifying information 

• AI is not a replacement for human thinking 

• Be transparent when using AI 

• Be judicious when using AI. It takes a lot of electricity to power AI, so avoid using it “just for fun” 

“AI is as lot like a hammer,” Alby said. “If you’re trying to build a house, a hammer is fantastic. If you’re being chased by someone with a hammer, you should be afraid. It’s all about how it’s used, and whether that use is ethical.” 

Special thanks to Dr. Bekir Mugayitoglu, assistant professor of Professional Learning & Innovation at Georgia College, for helping compile these lists. 

AI and Digital Tech Birth Through Age 8 

The first five years of life are critical for brain development (First Things First, 2025; Harvard University, Center on the Developing Child, 2025; Kelley, 2023; Thompson, 2024). It’s at this time in a child’s life that human and physical interaction are most important, so very limited contact with digital devices before age 2 is recommended (Wolf, 2018). 

• Ages 2-5: this is a time of experimentation—little books, big books, colors, letters, notebooks, numbers, music and more. Screen exposure should remain low at less than 2 hours per day and should not be used as a reward (neutral). 

• Kindergarten: physical books and print are still the best medium for young readers—they reinforce add tactile associations and provide the best social/emotional interaction. 

• Children should learn to use search engines, how to use keywords, learn to spot bias, and other good digital habits 

According to Alby and Toomey, children should not be using AI until they can understand ethical and appropriate uses of AI. Instead, educators should use AI-powered, FERPA-compliant apps, like Magic School AI, to assist them with repetitive classroom tasks. 

When they reach middle school, educators should be transparent with students when they use AI and use it as a learning opportunity. For example, students can use AI to generate text and then use what they’ve learned in class to fact check it. 

It’s always important to follow recommendations and policies set out by individual schools, districts, and states. For additional guidance, the Georgia Technology Authority has ‘5 Guiding Principles’ for using AI. 

“If you ask [AI] to come up with something on its own, results may vary,” Toomey said. “If you already have a well-developed idea and need a little help, it's good for that, but you have to rely on your own brainpower for the initial stages.” 

The Deal Center is a not-for-profit, special funding initiative created by the Office of the Governor in 2017. The center is intended to improve reading outcomes for Georgia’s children and is housed at Georgia College & State University.     

References 

Wolf, M. (2018). Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World. Harper Collins.

First Things First. (2025). https://www.firstthingsfirst.org/early-childhood-matters/brain-development/  

Harvard University Center on the Developing Child. (2025). Brain Architecture.  https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/brain-architecture/    

Kelley, A. (2023). Brain Development in Early Childhood. https://www.luriechildrens.org/en/blog/early-childhood-brain-development-and-health/  

Thompson, R. A. (2024). Early Brain Development and Public Health. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11526699/