VCU professor weighs in on Trump’s executive order to implement AI in classrooms

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order called "Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education For American Youth" to implement the use of artificial intelligence (AI) into classrooms nationwide.

"Increasingly, we know that AI is a big part of our society moving forward," said Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Educational Leadership Professor Jon Becker, who specializes in AI educational research.

To establish this, the order calls for the creation of a White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education — chaired by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy— to coordinate nationwide efforts to train both teachers and students in the use of AI tools.

"I'm a little bit skeptical that anything can be done out of this executive order," Becker said. "Typically, education policy happens at the state and local level."

However, Becker said this is a federal effort to train teachers and students to incorporate AI into their daily lessons.

"It's important for schools to help students think about what technologies like artificial intelligence mean for our society moving forward," Becker said.

Becker pointed out that AI is more than just ChatGPT, and that some forms can be very useful to students with disabilities. He said it could possibly help teachers, too.

"There are ways to kind of ease the burden from school administrators, from teachers,” Becker said. "But, I don't want to see us outsourcing teaching and learning to computers. I don't want us to say, 'We don't need teachers anymore because we have AI.”

That's not the only challenge Becker pointed out.

"AI might give students an opportunity to kind of take the easy way out,” Becker said. "It can help students cheat."

Still, Becker believes federal resources could make a difference if implemented thoughtfully.

“Whatever comes this year from the federal level might be helpful. But I think the real action is at the state and local level,” Becker said.

You can find the full executive order here.