AI Is Everywhere in EdTech. Where’s the Evidence?

Artificial intelligence is being added to curriculum and EdTech products at speed, but independent evidence about whether individual AI features improve learning has not kept pace, according to a new EdReports brief.

In a qualitative scan of 10 curriculum and education technology providers, EdReports found AI being used to tutor students, adapt content, support lesson planning, score work and recommend next steps. It cautions that evidence for an established product cannot automatically be treated as evidence for a newly added AI feature.

The report also points to an imbalance in how the sector evaluates AI. Privacy, safety, bias and transparency are receiving increasing attention, while there is still no consistent way to determine whether an AI feature strengthens learning or preserves the coherence of the underlying curriculum. EdReports does not rate the products in the brief or conclude that AI is inherently beneficial or harmful.

For schools, that shifts the procurement question from “Does it have AI?” to a more useful set of questions: What does the feature actually do? What evidence supports it? How will the school know whether it improves teaching or learning? As more products add AI, credible evidence may become as important as capability.

Read EdReports’ AI in K–12 Instructional Materials: What We’re Seeing.