'AI ruins students?' Classrooms are already finding answers with AI

"The thing students say most often in front of AI is, 'I don't know what to ask,'" said Lee Myeong-cheol, a teacher at Bokjeong High School.

On the opening day of the 2026 Korea Science, Mathematics and Informatics Teacher Conference and the 2026 AI-Integrated Lead Teacher Training program at BEXCO in Busan on Thursday, AI was taking shape across the exhibition halls — not as a tool that simply delivers answers, but as one that builds students' capacity to ask questions. Teachers on the ground were united in their view: "The core of education in the AI era is not the ability to find answers, but the ability to form questions."

About 8,760 people took part in the event — 3,560 teachers in person and 5,200 online. This year marked the first time the AI lead teacher training and the science, mathematics and informatics teacher conference were held jointly, creating a forum for teachers nationwide to share AI-integrated classroom practices and discuss the future direction of education.

The most immediately striking feature of the venue was a row of booths where teachers tried AI tools firsthand. At the Google for Education booth, participants used the generative AI Gemini to create lesson materials and design inquiry activities in math and science. Teachers entered prompts to generate research tasks, then edited the AI's suggestions themselves to gauge how they might apply in the classroom.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's K-STEM Lab booth also drew steady foot traffic. It showcased AI and software teaching tools, science and math inquiry lesson cases, and programs developed in partnership with universities and AI research institutes, with teachers exchanging views on educational content already in use in schools.

The Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education presented a future-education model combining AI with a "read, walk, write" curriculum. It put forward a vision in which students become learners who understand AI and use it meaningfully, while teachers evolve into education professionals who support student growth.

One high school class highlighted as a model example had students tackle the problem of declining physical activity among senior citizens. Using AI programs and sensors, they analyzed the issue, devised ideas to increase physical activity and built working prototypes.

Teaching methods in the classroom are also changing rapidly with AI. The lesson cases teachers presented shared a common thread: the emphasis was on the process of questioning and receiving feedback, not on finding the right answer.

Lee Myeong-cheol, who teaches Korean history at Bokjeong High School in Gyeonggi Province, described how he integrated AI into his students' inquiry process. Under the old system, when students submitted worksheets, all that remained was a stamped record. Starting this year, he redesigned the workflow: AI first analyzes the questions students write and provides feedback, students then revise and resubmit their questions, and one of the accumulated questions is developed into a full research report. AI handles the feedback throughout, but the final assessment remains the teacher's responsibility.

Students also submit transcripts of their AI conversations, leaving a record of what questions they asked, what feedback they received and how their thinking developed — all of which becomes assessment material. In practice, 77 of 106 students, or 72.6 percent, revised and resubmitted their questions after receiving AI feedback. Of those, 36, or 46.8 percent, improved their questions by at least one level. One student said: "At first I was frustrated that it wouldn't just give me the answer, but I came to realize that the more specific my question, the better the answer I got."

"Without AI, it would have been realistically impossible to read every question from more than 100 students and give individual feedback," Lee said. "AI provides immediate feedback to every student and compensates for the time teachers simply don't have."

Kim Sang-seop, a teacher at Daenam Elementary School in Daegu, said he uses AI as a first-draft feedback tool for writing. Students use AI to check the structure of their writing before the teacher provides a final round of feedback. "Every student writes at a different level, so it's hard for a teacher to go through every first draft individually," he said. "When AI handles the initial feedback, the teacher can focus more on the student's thinking process and growth."

However, the importance of digital ethics education alongside AI use was also underscored. Park Cheol-jin, a teacher at Songjeong Elementary School in Gwangju, said he has students search for sources one more time when using generative AI. "I keep teaching them that instead of taking what AI presents at face value, they need to develop the habit of cross-checking it against other sources," he said.

The Ministry of Education is also moving quickly to overhaul its assessment framework in step with these classroom changes. At a 2026 work-plan briefing held at Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday and chaired by the president, the ministry unveiled its second-half agenda: expanding essay and short-answer assessments and using AI to support the grading of such responses, review of assessment items and checks on question difficulty. The aim is to shift education away from multiple-choice-centered evaluation and toward measuring students' critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.

President Lee Jae Myung, speaking at the same briefing, said: "This is an era in which how well you ask questions matters most. Solving problems that someone else sets can be left to AI. What we need is education that teaches students what to ask, what to envision and how to express new ideas that do not yet exist in the world."

Jang Hong-jae, director general of school policy at the Ministry of Education, told the conference opening ceremony that "AI education and science, mathematics and informatics education are the core foundation for nurturing future talent." He added that "AI is not a replacement for teachers — it is a tool that supports teachers' expertise and helps each and every student grow."

Jang said the ministry had been strengthening teachers' AI-based instructional capabilities through programs such as the AI lead teacher training, and pledged to expand support that reflects the voices of those working in the field.