Will education professors be replaced by AI?
Updated
Education professors score 52 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 57%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 17% outright, and 26% stays with people.
- 17% AI can do it
- 57% AI helps
- 26% Needs a person
High exposure
Higher than 79% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 24 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 4 of them today, speeds up 13 and leaves 7 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records. Attendance and grade records are routine data entry and tracking. | 80% AI can do it |
| Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts. AI drafts syllabi, assignments and handouts; instructor reviews and tailors. | 70% AI can do it |
| Compile bibliographies of specialized materials for outside reading assignments. AI search and formatting builds bibliographies; citations need checking. | 70% AI can do it |
| Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers. AI grades against rubrics and drafts feedback; teacher reviews results. | 65% AI can do it |
| Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others. AI drafts exams and grades objective items; human supervises administration. | 55% AI helps |
| Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction. AI drafts curriculum options and analyzes outcomes; faculty decide. | 55% AI helps |
| Write grant proposals to procure external research funding. AI drafts proposal sections and budgets; funder fit and accountability stay human. | 50% AI helps |
| Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as children's literature, learning and development, and reading instruction. AI drafts lecture content and slides; live delivery stays human. | 45% AI helps |
| Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences. AI summarizes literature; conferences and colleague talks stay human. | 40% AI helps |
| Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media. AI aids literature review and drafting; original research stays human-led. | 35% AI helps |
Show the other 14 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities. Registration and placement paperwork is automatable; recruiting events are in person. | 35% AI helps |
| Perform administrative duties, such as serving as department head. AI handles reports and email; leadership and staffing decisions stay human. | 35% AI helps |
| Select and obtain materials and supplies, such as textbooks. AI compares textbooks and drafts orders; procurement approval stays with staff. | 35% AI helps |
| Advise students on academic and vocational curricula and on career issues. AI answers routine program questions; career advising needs personal judgement. | 30% AI helps |
| Advise and instruct teachers employed in school systems by providing activities, such as in-service seminars. AI helps prepare seminar content; live teacher training stays human. | 30% AI helps |
| Provide professional consulting services to government or industry. AI supports analysis and reports; expert advice and liability stay human. | 30% AI helps |
| Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues. AI can prepare agendas and minutes; deliberation is human. | 25% AI helps |
| Serve as a liaison between the university and other governmental and educational agencies. Liaison work depends on relationships and in-person negotiation. | 18% Needs a person |
| Supervise students' fieldwork, internship, and research work. Fieldwork and placement supervision needs on-site presence and judgement. | 15% Needs a person |
| Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions. Live discussion facilitation depends on real-time human interaction. | 15% Needs a person |
| Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students. Office hours are live one-to-one student interactions. | 15% Needs a person |
| Collaborate with colleagues to address teaching and research issues. Collegial collaboration is interpersonal and relationship driven. | 12% Needs a person |
| Act as advisers to student organizations. Advising student organizations is in-person and relationship based. | 12% Needs a person |
| Participate in campus and community events. Campus and community events require physical presence. | 8% Needs a person |
How education professors compare
All occupations (923)
Educational instruction and library (62)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $75,350 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 60,830 in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- +2.5% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Build syllabi and rubrics in Microsoft Word and Google Docs
- Run office hours and advise students in person
- Lead live classroom discussion and moderate debate
- Supervise student fieldwork and research placements on site
- Review AI-drafted exam items and grades in your LMS
- Design curriculum changes from outcome data in Microsoft Excel
Safer roles nearby
5 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about education professors and AI
Will AI replace education professors?
Partly. About 4 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly maintaining attendance and grade records and preparing course materials such as syllabi and handouts. Discussion, office hours, fieldwork supervision and collegial work stay with people because they need a person in the room.
Which education professor tasks is AI taking over?
Attendance and grade record keeping scores 80 on exposure, the highest in this job, because it is routine data entry in the LMS. Compiling bibliographies also scores 70, since AI search and formatting builds the lists and the professor only checks citations.
Which education professor tasks stay human?
Leading classroom discussions, holding office hours and supervising fieldwork stay with people, and each scores 15 on exposure, the lowest in this job. These tasks depend on live, real-time interaction with students, so a person has to be in the room to read the discussion, answer a student's question face to face and judge a placement site.
How can education professors stay valuable as AI takes on more tasks?
Focus on the tasks that stay with people, such as facilitating live discussions and supervising fieldwork placements. Use AI to draft syllabi in Microsoft Word and grade against rubrics, then revise the output yourself and check every citation before it reaches students.
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