How the next generations can benefit by learning AI from 1st grade in school

She approached us and asked, "Hello, can you speak to my son?"

Surprised by her directness and courage to speak in English, I learned that they lived in Thai Nguyen, north of Hanoi.

Often on weekends she would bring her child to Hanoi just to speak English with foreigners.

Today many AI assistants are capable of communicating in hundreds of languages with pedagogical abilities and they will save parents, like the Thai Nguyen mother, both money and time.

This is just one of the many opportunities AI will create. Instead of relying on libraries, students anywhere, regardless of their financial status, can access knowledge with a small handheld device.

And rather than teach just a few students in a classroom, a teacher's knowledge can be shared interactively with tens of thousands of students, thanks to AI.

At a recent conference the prime minister expressed his determination to introduce AI right in first grade at school.

Many people express concern about their children becoming lazy or ignorant if AI is not properly integrated, and I understand these worries.

This transition must be approached scientifically and humanely to ensure AI adds value.

The government’s policy raises important questions for education authorities, including the need for equipment (for both students and teachers), infrastructure and updated content. How will the curriculum adapt? We all look forward to receiving answers from the Ministry of Education and Training.

One non-negotiable in education is honesty and sincerity. Cheating in a test has always been punished with a 0, and this rule must remain in place. If a student lets AI take a test for them it is still cheating. Therefore, the integration of AI into early education must conform with traditional educational values and principles.

Turning away from or banning technology has never been the answer, and history has proven this.

When fire was discovered, who could have banned it? The Ottoman Empire tried to stop the printing press, but ultimately failed. New technology always overcomes efforts to proscribe it.

AI is the next revolution. It will change everything from productivity to knowledge access. It is neither a miracle nor a threat. The real question is how we approach it.

For students, AI can serve as a companion in learning foreign languages, a vast knowledge repository and a virtual "person" to practice communication with, offering real-time responses in multiple languages.

A child in a remote area, with only a phone and an internet connection, can chat with a "native English speaker" on the other side of the world. This is something their parents’ generation could only dream of but never had access to.

For teachers, AI can alleviate the burden of grading papers, synthesizing documents and suggesting personalized teaching methods.

The time saved can be better spent focusing on individual students, identifying difficulties that a standard test might not reveal.

However, it is not enough to simply focus on "saving time" or "learning faster": Students need to learn how to use AI responsibly. They must know how to ask questions, verify answers and even challenge the responses when necessary. Communication skills, critical thinking, and a humanistic foundation—understanding what is right and wrong—must be at the core of their education.

Here, the role of teachers and parents becomes even more crucial. They not only teach words, but also how to distinguish truth from falsehood, verify sources of information, and take responsibility for their choices. As AI becomes more advanced, it is essential that we build the "moral muscles" and skepticism necessary to navigate this new era.

AI has its weaknesses: it can fabricate answers, provide false information, and unintentionally spread harmful content. It could even be exploited to create cyberattacks or distort facts. But prohibition cannot prevent these risks; only a strong "immune system" of knowledge and skills can protect us.

Introducing AI in first grade, then, is not just about installing computers or software. It requires a comprehensive overhaul of curriculum updates, new assessment methods, the evolving role of teachers, parental practices, and data protection policies for children.

Instead of rejecting AI, we should teach children how to distinguish between being assisted and being replaced.

Fire once cooked our food and kept us warm, but it could also destroy forests. The printing press once spread knowledge, but it also spread lies.

AI will share the same duality.

The issue lies not with the tools, but with the hands and minds of the users.

]If we prepare today the next generation of first graders will not only learn with AI—they will learn how to lead AI toward prosperity, justice and the spreading of knowledge and love for humanity.

*Nguyen Duy Cu is an expert in machine learning and artificial intelligence. He is a researcher working for POST Luxembourg.