On 10 July 2026, Prof. Ben Leong, Director of AICET, conducted a sharing session for teachers at Peicai Secondary School on the impact of recent advances in AI on education. He argued that improving education with AI is not primarily a technology problem — it is a pedagogy problem, and schools need to focus on developing new pedagogies rather than simply adopting new tools.
Pedagogy First, Not Technology First
Prof. Ben Leong emphasised that meaningful improvement in education does not come from technology alone.
What matters most is learning design — the experiences created for students, the thinking cultivated in them, and the deliberate role AI is given in the classroom.
Without this intentional design, AI adoption risks becoming a distraction rather than a genuine improvement to teaching and learning.
The Promise and the Risk of Personalisation
The session highlighted AI’s potential to deliver meaningful personalisation at scale, and to free up teachers from mundane administrative tasks so they can focus on higher-value pedagogical work.
At the same time, Prof. Ben Leong cautioned against over-reliance on AI by students, which can lead to cognitive offloading — a pattern that negatively affects understanding and skill development over time. Balancing these opportunities and risks requires careful, deliberate choices about when and how AI is used in the learning process.
Teaching as a Human Craft
Prof. Ben Leong closed by reminding teachers that, even as AI reshapes classrooms, teaching remains a deeply human craft — one shaped by care and professional judgement that technology cannot replicate. This message resonated with the Peicai teachers, many of whom are themselves navigating how to bring AI meaningfully into their classrooms while staying grounded in sound pedagogical values.
The session offered Peicai Secondary School teachers a timely opportunity to reflect on how AI can be thoughtfully integrated into their teaching practice, reinforcing that the teacher’s judgement and care remain central to good education in the age of AI.
