When walking through the halls of an average high school in 2026, there is a noticeable tension whenever “AI” is mentioned. Some teachers still view ChatGPT as a high-tech cheat code, while students worry about being falsely accused—a fear that is shared by 51% of students who worry about being flagged by AI detectors. However, now is the time to stop treating Artificial Intelligence as a secret tool and start treating it for what it actually is: the new ‘calculator.’
Think back to when handheld calculators first entered the classroom environment. There were massive debates about whether they would cause our brains to “rot” or destroy our ability to do basic math. Today, we use them for everything from Algebra to Physics. We didn’t stop learning math. We just started solving bigger and more complex problems because we were not trying to solve long division on a sheet of paper for 30 minutes.
Treating AI literacy like a job isn’t just a suggestion; it’s a necessity for our future. The World Economic Forum predicts that while AI might displace around 92 million jobs by 2030, it will create roughly 170 million jobs in the process. This will result in a net gain of 78 million jobs for those who know how to use AI.
Instead of a total ban, schools should demonstrate responsible usage of the tool. There is a massive difference between asking an AI agent to write an entire essay and using it to brainstorm ideas, clarify concepts, or debug specific code. Educators who lean into this idea see positive results over an elongated period of time. Teachers using AI feedback tools have reported a 34% decrease in the time needed to properly instruct students in a classroom environment.
Students need to learn “AI prompt engineering”—the skill of talking to AI to get accurate results—and how to fact-check its results. If high school is supposed to prepare us for the “real world,” then it has to include AI.
At the end of the day, a ‘calculator’ is only as smart as the person holding it. AI is the same. It’s time to stop fearing it and start training it.
