The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), one of the largest labor unions in the US with roughly 1.8 million members, has launched a $23 million AI training initiative funded entirely by Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic. The program aims to train 400,000 educators over five years, but the corporate backing has ignited controversy over whether it prioritizes students or tech companies' profits.
Teachers Seek to Understand AI
Darius Saczuk, an English as a new language teacher at Long Island City High School in Queens, New York, views AI as a threat to his profession. "It's killing our jobs, it's changing our society, it's replacing humans," he said. "In order to retain my job, I need to know how to use AI because it's not going away." Saczuk attended a training session at the AFT's National Academy for AI Instruction in Manhattan, where he and other teachers learned to prevent students from outsourcing their thinking to AI.
The training comes amid a lack of official guidance. According to a Pew Research Center survey from fall 2023, more than half of teens use AI for schoolwork, and nearly six in ten say cheating with AI is common. Meanwhile, an NPR/Ipsos poll found that only about four in ten teachers report their schools offer AI-related professional development, and about half say they have received no guidance or are unclear on what it is.
Funding from Big Tech Raises Questions
The AFT's training initiative is funded by Microsoft ($12.5 million), OpenAI ($10 million), and Anthropic ($500,000). Critics argue this partnership gives tech companies undue influence. Audrey Watters, author of Teaching Machines: The History of Personalized Learning, said it's "handing more political power over" to big tech and is "dangerous" for educators to partner with companies that "seem opposed" to education's goals.
AFT President Randi Weingarten defends the funding, calling AI training a "moral imperative." She said, "There was no fairy godmother philanthropist that was sprinkling millions of dollars on us to actually create a mechanism to educate. I am not promoting the use of AI. Educators need to know the tool." Microsoft's Justin Spelhaug, leader of education programs, said the goal is to learn directly from teachers about their classroom needs.
The Classroom AI Debate
Tech leaders have touted AI's benefits. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in a 2024 blog post about a future with "virtual tutors," and OpenAI President Greg Brockman said on a podcast that AI could replicate some teacher experiences, like making students feel understood. Microsoft believes AI can reduce administrative burdens and personalize learning, but Spelhaug stressed, "There is no substitute for the role of a teacher."
However, experts like MIT professor Justin Reich note a lack of evidence that AI improves outcomes. "There's no evidence that the adoption of Google or Microsoft products leads to better outcomes, happier teachers, more efficient school systems or anything," he said. Tech companies have a history of offering free training to build brand loyalty, as Google did with its Certified Educators program.
Training in Practice
At a May training session in Manhattan, trainer John Holleran told teachers, "The sad thing is there is no map, and the terrain is changing every single day." The session covered AI's limitations, including bias and hallucination. For example, ChatGPT generated an image of a white man in a suit when asked to show a successful person, illustrating the need for awareness.
Teachers at the session shared positive experiences. Phillip Perry, a ninth-grade teacher at Bronx High School for Law and Community Service, uses AI to design lessons for students with disabilities. "Trying to differentiate instruction in a way that can completely target their learning needs has been a massive challenge," he said. "Using AI is helpful in breaking down tasks to the smallest form to help build the students up as they go."
Tanushree Sengupta, a math teacher at Hillcrest High School in Queens, uses AI to generate practice problems and analyze student data. But she worries about over-reliance: "I need to figure out ways where [students are] doing more thinking that they can actually show."
Controversy and Future Steps
The AFT's partnership with tech companies has drawn criticism for potentially steering teachers toward specific products. Watters said the union's involvement makes AI seem more credible: "It feels very different to have your union say, 'We're offering a training,' than it does to have a company say [it]."
Spelhaug called the concern "understandable" but inaccurate, noting the initiative was "designed in response to a need our union partners and educators themselves identified." The AFT says companies cannot promote products during sessions, and Weingarten has called for a ban on student-facing AI in elementary schools, working with companies on a "gold standard" for safety and privacy. She warned the union would walk away if promises aren't kept: "They have agreed in concept, but until the Is are dotted and the Ts are crossed, there's no agreement."
Despite the controversy, teachers like Saczuk see the training as essential. "It's a big question mark," he said about the role of teachers in an AI-driven world. The demand for training remains high; a May session sold out within hours, leaving 150 on a waitlist.
