Artificial Intelligence and Education

In Disney’s 1940 animation Fantasia, one of the most memorable scenes features Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen it - you can find it on YouTube. Tasked with carrying buckets of water, Mickey uses magic to make a broom do the work for him. At first, it is a shortcut which seems clever, efficient, and impressive. But Mickey soon discovers a problem: once the broom starts, he realises he doesn’t know how to stop it. The magic amplifies his intentions, but not his wisdom. What follows is chaos - water flooding the room, and a valuable lesson learned too late.

This scene offers a metaphor for artificial intelligence (AI) in our world today. Like the enchanted broom, AI can dramatically amplify human capability. It works at scale, operates at speed, and can bring efficiencies to tasks once requiring great effort. Yet, just as in Fantasia, the real issue is not the tool itself, but our understanding, intention, and responsibility in using it well. There is an important distinction to make when we talk about AI: the difference between a tool and a device.

A tool requires something of the user. It demands skill, craft, judgement, and intention. A paintbrush does not make someone an artist; providing a musical instrument does not guarantee an enjoyable sound - just ask my Year 3 recorder teacher! In the hands of a skilled and thoughtful person, with time and effort, a tool can extend creativity and enable remarkable outcomes. Used this way, AI can be of great assistance, supporting learning, refining thinking, and helping us explore ideas more deeply.

A device, on the other hand, replaces human effort. It is designed to remove thinking, bypass struggle, and substitute for understanding. When AI is used this way, it begins to hollow out the very capacities education exists to build. The danger is not AI itself, but allowing a powerful tool to become a replacement for human responsibility.

From our Christian perspective, this distinction matters deeply. The Bible teaches that humans are made in the image of God, created with the capacity for reason, creativity, moral judgement, and relationship. Tools are a gift, to be stewarded wisely, but they are never meant to replace the uniquely human role God has given us. Technology, including AI, can be part of our calling to cultivate, create, and serve. But when tools begin to displace responsibility, integrity, and truth‑seeking, they distort that calling.

Rather than just ban AI use, we aim to prepare students for the future by exploring how AI works, where its limits lie, and when its use is appropriate. AI is neither something to fear nor something to surrender to uncritically. It is a powerful tool that must remain in human hands, shaped by wisdom, craft, and heart. As a College, our commitment is to help students grow into thoughtful, discerning, and ethical users of technology. The real “magic” has never been the tool itself, but the character and wisdom of the one who uses it.

Daryl Hinton
Head of Secondary Years