In January of 2026, the Center for Universal Education at Brookings Institution released a comprehensive study titled A New Direction for Students in an AI World: Prosper, Prepare, Protect. The report was authored by Mary Burns, Rebecca Winthrop, Natasha Luther, Emma Venetis, and Rida Karim.
In their findings, the authors acknowledge that generative AI “presents opportunities and threats, promising unprecedented innovation—and disruption.” The key questions to answer are: Which path will it lead us down, and what can we do as educators to shape that path and trajectory? It is precisely these questions that the Brookings study aims to answer. In fact, they describe the report as a “premortem.” Rather than writing a “postmortem” report after it’s too late to address concerns posed by generative AI, they attempt to predict what these problems will be and then propose proactive solutions that can be implemented now in order to steer education in a positive direction.
Goals of the Study
The Brookings research team focused their work on two driving questions: “What are the potential negative risks that generative AI poses to the education of children and youth? Assuming these potential risks, what can we begin to do now to prevent them while maximizing the potential benefits of AI?”
Based on these questions, the report was aimed at helping readers “understand the current landscape of benefits and risks of AI in children’s education” and “identify concrete actions they can take to leverage AI for transformational educational benefits.”
The authors write, “Ultimately, the trajectory of AI will be determined not by fatalism or passive acceptance, but by the deliberate choices and sustained efforts of all of us working together to bend the arc of AI implementation toward educational experiences that help all children flourish academically, socially, and civically.”
Three Premises
The report is written with three foundational premises in mind:
- Relationships: “Children’s learning is fueled by social relationships,” and holistic development is shaped by an interconnection of cognitive, social, and emotional growth. The report identifies relationships between students, teachers, content, and parents as the heart of education.
- Purpose: “Schools serve multiple, interrelated purposes in children’s lives and in society.” While schools are designed for academic learning, they also shape the holistic development of a child and serve social, civic, and economic roles in the community.
- Transformation: Technology does not always and automatically lead to positive educational transformation, and its most effective educational contributions occur when “embedded within carefully designed and implemented strategies.”
In addition to outlining these three premises, which are grounded in prior research, the authors also acknowledge that no one, not even AI’s creators, can predict the potential dangers and benefits of this transformational technology with complete accuracy.
The Study
This yearlong study encompassed interviews, focus groups, and consultations with 505 students, teachers, parents, education leaders, and technologists across 50 countries. They also conducted a close review of over 400 studies and pulled this all together using a Delphi panel, which is a structured and iterative research technique that gathers anonymous expert opinions over multiple surveys and then uses those results to form a consensus on a complex topic.
Before breaking down their findings into more nuanced parts, the authors provided a general overview of their results. They state that “at this point in its trajectory, the risks of utilizing AI in education overshadow its benefits.”
While at first glance this may sound alarming, it’s important to note that the authors also write that AI has the potential to either benefit or hinder students, depending on how it’s used. They add that we all have “the agency, the capacity, and the imperative” to help AI enrich, not diminish, students’ learning and development.
Taking Action
Because they consider this report to be a premortem, the future has not been fully defined, and stakeholders still have an opportunity to shape what that future looks like in their schools.
In fact, a key part of the report is a list of 12 action steps broken down into three pillars: Prosper, Prepare, and Protect. The authors “urge all relevant actors to identify at least one recommendation to advance over the next three years.” By doing so, they argue, we can bend the arc of AI implementation toward a path where students thrive.
Note: This is Part I of a four-part series unpacking A New Direction for Students in an AI World: Prosper, Prepare, Protect by the Center for Universal Education at Brookings Institution.
AVID Connections
This resource connects with the following components of the AVID College and Career Readiness Framework:
- Instruction
- Leadership
- Student Agency
- Insist on Rigor
- Collective Educator Agency
Extend Your Learning
- A New Direction for Students in an AI World: Prosper, Prepare, Protect (The Center for Universal Education at Brookings Institution)
- ChatGPT (OpenAI)
- Generative AI Adopted Faster Than the Internet or Personal Computers HKS Study Finds (Nataly R. Delcid, Sophie Gao, and Catherine Jeon via The Harvard Crimson)
- ChatGPT Sets Record for Fastest-Growing User Base – Analyst Note (Krystal Hu via Reuters)
- Preparing, Conducting, and Analyzing Delphi Surveys: Cross-Disciplinary Practices, New Directions, and Advancements (Daniel Beiderbeck, Nicolas Frevel, Heiko A. von der Gracht, Sascha L. Schmidt, and Vera M. Schweitzer in MethodsX via National Library of Medicine)