Super 30's Anand Kumar: How teachers can use AI to remain in the race: 5 lessons no teacher should miss

In a new world where the classroom itself is transforming at a speed faster than ever, the pedagogy of teachers should adapt accordingly. Anand Kumar, the founder of Patna-based Super 30 initiative that taught dozens of students from modest beginnings to India's top Institutes of Technology (IITs), spoke at the OpenAI Education Summit about how teachers need to adapt with next-gen technology, and in particular, Artificial Intelligence (AI), if they are to remain ahead.

For Kumar, whose career has been a mix of intellectual distinction and social cause for many years now, the job is easy: "For each teacher, it is essential to refresh themselves from time to time so that they can offer their best to students. Right now, at the juncture of time when technology and demands are changing at the speed of lightning, AI should never be considered as a substitute but as a successful complement to teachers."

Learning for life is not a choice

Kumar is blunt but convincing: Teachers themselves have to learn for life. Like children learn to ask, inquire, and question, so do teachers have to re-learn again and again and sharpen their skills. With shifting times and the fast-evolving technology, from AI-powered classroom assistants to virtual classrooms, slothfulness is not a choice.

Adapt, don't resist

What this essentially means is embracing AI-driven tools to make learning individualized, managerial tasks mechanized, and instant feedback possible so that instructors are able to spend time on innovative and analytic engagement with pupils.

Collaboration doubles the effect

Kumar said the remarks as OpenAI launched its first Indian office, a reflection of India's growing interest in AI. The use of ChatGPT in India quadrupled over the last year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, citing investment in the country. Kumar's vision suggests that instructors who collaborate with tech firms, share ideas, and pilot new solutions can really make learning better.

Vision inspires practice

From having already encountered Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to watching India make its entry into developing a complete AI ecosystem, Kumar mirrored the manner in which teachers must situate themselves within broader visions of technological democratization. Teachers, through their understanding of national policy, international trends, and ethical principles of AI use, are tasked with placing technology into use with thoughtfulness so that students can perform well in examinations as also in a changing world.

Reimagining the teacher's role

Anand Kumar insists: AI will not replace teachers but will serve as an accelerator. When questioning and calculation are paired in the classroom, when creativity and code are united, teachers can re-think what they can do. Through judicious application of AI, learning new skills all the time, and developing analytical muscle, teachers enable the next generation not only to be educated but equipped to survive in a world where learning is continuous.