As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes ubiquitous, teachers face the challenge and responsibility of preparing students for a world where they’ll be expected to use AI to deepen their thinking, expand their creativity, and solve harder problems.
This future makes uniquely human skills increasingly valuable; knowing how to leverage AI to support them is essential. It isn’t enough for students to know about AI to be prepared for this future. They need to understand how to use AI to augment their abilities. This includes recognizing which skills are uniquely human so they can distinguish between when it would be irresponsible to use AI and when it would be equally problematic not to us it. They must know how to draw on their knowledge and experience to use AI in the service of their goals, while maintaining their own judgment, agency, and creativity.
Aligned to existing ISTE standards, the Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate highlights six essential human roles: Learner, Researcher, Synthesizer, Problem-Solver, Connector, and Storyteller. It outlines the specific skills students need in order to use AI to thrive in each role, and it shows how teachers can model those skills in the classroom so students can practice them and develop proficiency by the time they graduate from high school or college.
One core idea is that AI should deepen students’ capacity as Researchers to think critically and investigate the world, not simply retrieve facts. Instead of sending students to perform a generic search, teachers are building AI-powered experiences that guide them to narrow their focus, interrogate sources, and ask better questions.
Another is that AI-ready graduates should know how to use artificial intelligence to spur their own thinking, break through creative blocks, and explore alternative perspectives they may not have otherwise encountered on their own. Problem Solvers engage in generative conversations that help them define problems and identify potential solutions and processes to solve problems. Throughout, they maintain critical judgment about which AI-generated insights to accept, adapt, or reject.
The profile’s AI skills rest on a foundational framework: the ISTE Standards for Students which build digital literacy and guide ethical, creative use of technology. Together, the standards and profile share core values of human connection, lifelong learning, and student agency.
Begin your students’ AI journey to meet their future career goals. Download the Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate and use it to guide your school in meaningfully modeling AI for learning.