AI can produce answers in seconds. Education professor Yong Zhao argues that schools should respond by changing what they ask pupils to learn, not simply by policing access to the tools.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
In a Daily Sabah opinion article published on 15 November, Zhao proposes three shifts: from standardised towards more personalised learning; from answering set questions towards finding and solving meaningful problems; and from individual competition towards collaboration.
He argues that students should keep responsibility for their own judgement and work. In his example, one pupil gets AI to write an essay and submits it; another uses it to test evidence and improve an argument they care about. Same tool, rather different education.
Zhao says he is developing YEE AI, a learning platform built around those ideas, alongside Courageous Minority, an international community for educators seeking to change practice in their own classrooms.
Why it matters
This is a useful argument about what AI changes in education: not whether students can get answers, but whether schools reward the thinking that comes before and after them. Zhao’s proposals give that debate some practical shape, from student-led local problem-solving to more room for different interests and strengths.
Our read
“Let’s ban the tool” and “let’s automate the worksheet” are both easier than asking what a lesson is for. Zhao makes a case for putting judgement, curiosity and collaboration at the centre. It is an opinion, not evidence that his proposed approach improves learning, and the two initiatives are still described as being developed. But the questions are worth taking into classrooms now.
What to watch
- Whether YEE AI becomes available and how it supports personalised learning in practice.
- What classroom changes educators in Courageous Minority adopt and report.
- How schools assess students’ understanding when AI can supply a polished answer.
Discussion spark: Should schools redesign learning around questions and problems students care about, or keep standardised tasks as the fairest way to assess what they know?
Sources and evidence
- Learning after AI: When answers are there, what is education for? | Opinion (15 November 2026, 07:24 UTC)
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