By Mikisha Nation and Anne Soto
This opinion piece was originally published in the Minnesota Star Tribune on June 29, 2026, and is republished here with permission.
The conversation around AI in education has been stuck on risk versus reward and whether it belongs in the classroom. If we stay there, we risk losing ground for our students in the AI economy and widening the disconnection between students and educators.
The world outside of education has moved beyond evaluation to adoption. We have to catch up by shifting the dialogue to center students’ concerns so we can focus on what matters: deeper human connection while approaching solutions with clear guidance, expectations and models for ethical AI use.
At Teach For America (TFA) Twin Cities and World Savvy, we see these dynamics playing out in classrooms every day. That’s why we’re intentionally preparing teachers to move beyond debate and build fluency with AI, grounded in students’ experiences and focused on using these tools in ways that strengthen connection and learning. Through our work alongside schools, educators and young people across Minnesota, we have seen meaningful learning happen when students feel seen, heard and connected.
This week, a collaboration of more than a dozen Twin Cities organizations released our learnings from an intergenerational community event we co-hosted with World Savvy last month. We asked students what they think about AI and its impact on learning, relationships and their future. What we heard sounded some alarms and offered valuable insights.
Students raised concerns about a double standard they see with AI when comparing student to adult usage. In the classroom, while adults—from teachers to administrators—have been using agentic tools to improve efficiency, students feel discouraged or even penalized for adopting AI in the same manner. And there’s the disconnect that can erode human connection.
The need for dialogue becomes even more urgent when viewed alongside broader trends. Nearly half of the students surveyed by the Center for Democracy and Technology reported using AI for personal reasons such as companionship or mental health resources. Meanwhile, only 10% of teachers surveyed expressed confidence in addressing harmful AI use. And more than two-thirds of parents acknowledged gaps in their awareness of how their children engage with AI tools.
Gallup recently surveyed students and found that many of them feel both excitement and concern about AI’s growing role in their lives. Students recognize the importance of developing AI skills for future careers while also wrestling with the ethical and social questions. As they prepare for the workforce, they have expressed anxieties for what’s next with AI and how it will affect their postsecondary experiences. Their perspective is neither naive optimism nor blanket resistance. It is nuanced, thoughtful and grounded in lived experiences.
Human connection will continue to shape the way they acquire knowledge and perceive reality. The lack of it could widen the achievement gap, with our most vulnerable students sharing more of the risk. According to Gallup’s survey, the students who used AI daily expressed more positive feelings about it: 69% expressed curiosity, 44% excitement and 38% hopefulness. Whereas nonusers posed a significantly lower response for each category (28%, 4% and 2%, respectively). Overall, Gen Z feels an overwhelming need to establish AI skills for workforce readiness. And everyone has their own skepticisms, but we know for certain that with proper usage guidelines it can offer some bright spots for student achievement.
Research points to both the promise and the risks of AI in education. A 2026 Stanford University study found that tutors who leveraged AI tools designed with strong pedagogical guardrails improved student outcomes by as much as 9 percentage points, particularly among students supported by less experienced tutors. The same review found that AI tools used without thoughtful guidance can undermine learning. The difference lies not in the technology itself, but in its use to support teaching and learning with human interactions.
If we are serious about preparing our young people for an AI-shaped future, the starting point is open dialogue between adults and students. The students at our forum made clear that they are ready to contribute to that dynamic. They are ready to question, challenge, innovate and lead.
We must do more than teach them how to use these tools. We must invite them to help shape how they are used. Together, we can create a model that illustrates the value of human connection in a tech-driven world.
About the Authors
Mikisha Nation is Executive Director of Teach For America Twin Cities.
Anne Soto is Interim Chief Growth Officer of World Savvy, a national education nonprofit.
