Will preschool teachers be replaced by AI?
Updated
Preschool teachers score 29 of 100 for AI exposure. 49% of their task time still needs a person. AI can do 6% today and speed up another 45%.
- 6% AI can do it
- 45% AI helps
- 49% Needs a person
Low exposure
Lower than 64% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 34 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 2 of them today, speeds up 15 and leaves 17 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Prepare reports on students and activities as required by administration. Report writing from notes and records is a strong AI task. | 75% AI can do it |
| Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations. Record keeping is mostly digital documentation AI can format and maintain. | 70% AI can do it |
| Select, store, order, issue, and inventory classroom equipment, materials, and supplies. AI can track inventory and place orders, while physical handling stays manual. | 55% AI helps |
| Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests. AI can quickly adapt materials, while teacher tailors delivery to each child. | 45% AI helps |
| Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicate those objectives to children. AI can draft clear lesson objectives, though teacher communicates them in person. | 45% AI helps |
| Confer with other staff members to plan and schedule lessons promoting learning, following approved curricula. AI can draft lesson plans and schedules, while staff discussion stays human. | 45% AI helps |
| Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate. AI can build balanced plans, while teacher runs the live activities. | 40% AI helps |
| Prepare and implement remedial programs for students requiring extra help. AI can draft remedial plans, but delivering extra help is hands-on teaching. | 40% AI helps |
| Observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health. AI can draft evaluations from notes, but observation is done by the teacher. | 35% AI helps |
| Collaborate with other teachers and administrators in the development, evaluation, and revision of preschool programs. AI can draft program documents, while collaborative judgement stays with staff. | 35% AI helps |
Show the other 24 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Plan and supervise class projects, field trips, visits by guests, or other experiential activities and guide students in learning from those activities. AI can plan logistics and letters, but supervising outings is in person. | 30% AI helps |
| Supervise, evaluate, and plan assignments for teacher assistants and volunteers. AI can draft schedules and feedback, but supervising staff is human. | 30% AI helps |
| Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and needs, determine their priorities for their children, and suggest ways that they can promote learning and development. AI can draft progress summaries and tips, but parent meetings stay human. | 25% AI helps |
| Organize and lead activities designed to promote physical, mental, and social development, such as games, arts and crafts, music, storytelling, and field trips. AI can plan activities and ideas, but leading them is hands-on and live. | 25% AI helps |
| Meet with other professionals to discuss individual students' needs and progress. AI can summarize student notes, but the meeting itself is human. | 25% AI helps |
| Administer tests to help determine children's developmental levels, needs, and potential. AI can score and interpret results, but one on one testing is live. | 25% AI helps |
| Identify children showing signs of emotional, developmental, or health-related problems and discuss them with supervisors, parents or guardians, and child development specialists. AI can organize observation notes, but spotting and discussing problems is human. | 20% AI helps |
| Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate, and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play. Choosing and setting out physical materials is hands-on, with little AI help. | 15% Needs a person |
| Organize and label materials and display students' work in a manner appropriate for their ages and perceptual skills. Displaying student work is physical, though label text can be AI drafted. | 15% Needs a person |
| Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills. Live teaching of skills needs in person delivery to young children. | 12% Needs a person |
| Enforce all administration policies and rules governing students. Enforcing rules with children is live judgement, though AI can look up policy. | 12% Needs a person |
| Attend staff meetings and serve on committees as required. Attending meetings and committees in person is mostly human participation. | 12% Needs a person |
| Serve meals and snacks in accordance with nutritional guidelines. AI can plan menus, but serving food is physical work. | 10% Needs a person |
| Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities. Setting up physical classrooms and materials is hands-on work. | 10% Needs a person |
| Read books to entire classes or to small groups. Reading aloud to children is live, in-person performance. | 10% Needs a person |
| Teach proper eating habits and personal hygiene. Teaching eating and hygiene habits relies on live modeling and supervision. | 10% Needs a person |
| Demonstrate activities to children. Demonstrating physical activities to children is live and hands-on. | 10% Needs a person |
| Attend professional meetings, educational conferences, and teacher training workshops to maintain and improve professional competence. Attending conferences and workshops in person is largely physical participation. | 10% Needs a person |
| Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order. Enforcing behavior rules in real time requires physical presence and judgement. | 8% Needs a person |
| Provide students with disabilities with assistive devices, supportive technology, and assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms. Physically assisting students with devices and access needs hands-on help. | 8% Needs a person |
| Assimilate arriving children to the school environment by greeting them, helping them remove outerwear, and selecting activities of interest to them. Greeting children and helping with outerwear is physical, in-person care. | 5% Needs a person |
| Arrange indoor and outdoor space to facilitate creative play, motor-skill activities, and safety. Arranging indoor and outdoor spaces is physical and in person. | 5% Needs a person |
| Perform administrative duties, such as hall and cafeteria monitoring and bus loading and unloading. Hall, cafeteria and bus duties require physical presence and supervision. | 5% Needs a person |
| Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, and changing their diapers. Feeding, dressing and diaper changes are hands-on personal care. | 2% Needs a person |
How preschool teachers compare
All occupations (923)
Educational instruction and library (62)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $38,140 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 478,780 in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- +4.5% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Write student progress reports in Microsoft Word from observation notes
- Keep child records current in Microsoft Excel and district systems
- Adapt Common Curriculum lessons for each child's needs and interests
- Post activities and family updates in Seesaw and Google Classroom
- Lead in-person circle time, play and outdoor motor-skill sessions
- Manage behavior rules and transitions in real time with children
Questions about preschool teachers and AI
Will AI replace preschool teachers?
Partly. About 2 in 10 working hours of a preschool teacher's job go to tasks AI can already do, mostly report writing and record keeping. Hands-on care, play supervision and real-time guidance of children stay with people because they need a person in the room.
Which tasks is AI taking over for preschool teachers?
Report writing and record keeping lead the list, with exposure scores of 75 and 70. AI can draft reports on students from teacher notes and format records required by district policy in Microsoft Word and Excel. Inventory tracking and lesson drafting also move to software, with supplies at 55 and lesson objectives at 45.
Which tasks stay human for preschool teachers?
Feeding, dressing and diaper changes score 2 on exposure, the lowest on the list. Greeting children, arranging indoor and outdoor space, and enforcing behavior rules score 5 to 8 because each needs a teacher physically present and making judgement calls in the moment. Together these hands-on tasks carry 49% of the job's task weight.
How can preschool teachers stay valuable as AI takes over paperwork?
Use AI drafts in Seesaw and Google Classroom for daily updates, then add the observations only you saw in the room. Spend the hours saved on small-group play, outdoor motor-skill sessions and conversations with families. Adapt Common Curriculum lessons to individual children, since choosing activities for each child stays with the teacher.
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