With exam season underway and major changes to the Leaving Cert incoming, the question of AI use in schools has never felt more urgent.
Fr Philip Larrey, Catholic priest and AI ethicist, says artificial intelligence can support learning but only if used wisely. “You can use AI to train,” he told The Irish Catholic. “It can help you practice or simulate questions. But real education also requires engagement, not just engaging with information.”
Fr Larrey’s comments come amid growing concerns about stress, burnout, and reform in the Irish school system. The Leaving Cert has long been criticised for fuelling a culture of rote memorisation, with students reporting increased anxiety, grinds overload, and declining wellbeing.
New assessment components (AACs), launching this year, will account for 40% of marks in some subjects. While the changes are intended to promote broader participation and skill development, some have raised fears about the role AI might play in coursework.
With AI now able to produce entire assignments, teachers are under growing pressure to ensure that students’ work is genuinely their own. Similarly, Fr Larrey notes that many of his own students admitted to using AI early on, only to realise later that they hadn’t actually learned anything.
But he offers a clear warning: “The more you farm out to an AI what you should be doing yourself, the more you make yourself obsolete.”
