Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to completely disrupt the American education system and experts say the new technology could push forth a new model that produces more efficient and relevant students within the workforce.
While many critics have argued ChatGPT and other bots will exacerbate cheating or hinder critical thinking, others have claimed it is necessary to train students on the tool in order to set them up for future success.
David Espindola, a digital technology entrepreneur and the author of "Soulful: You in the Future of Artificial Intelligence," told Fox News Digital the current educational system is "broken" and needs a new model.
"I think education is ready to be disrupted big time," he said. "We have an education system today that is based out of the industrial revolution and the needs at that time for standardization and for people to learn math and to learn some things that were useful for people that were going to be working in factories. Well, that doesn't work anymore in today's world."
In January, The New York City Department of Education reportedly banned access to the popular artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT over fears it would harm students' education and in order to help prevent cheating.
"Due to concerns about negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of content, access to ChatGPT is restricted on New York City Public Schools' networks and devices," Education Department spokesperson Jenna Lyle first told Chalkbeat.
Espindola said the situation reminded him of a time when professors didn't want students to use electronic calculators but instead do the math by hand. This attitude is much less prevalent today, but Espindola said the conundrum of people being afraid of change remains.
"It's become pretty obvious now that you can use those cognitive capabilities to think at a higher level. I think the same thing is going to apply to AI. You know, these are tools that we're going to leverage and I think it's going to free us up to think at a higher level," Espindola added.
AI is accelerating rapidly, with everyone from major tech companies to small startups announcing new technological implementations on a near-daily basis. Espindola believes these swift advances will quickly lead some knowledge gleaned in school to become obsolete.