AI to hit NSW classrooms to ease pressure on teachers

Artificial intelligence education technology aimed to ease pressures on teachers will launch in NSW classrooms this year in one the largest rollouts of its kind globally, the state government says.

Education Minister Prue Car said on Monday the AI chat tool, known as NSWEduChat, would be available for public school teachers by the start of term four, which starts on October 14.

A trial of the technology showed it saved time in classrooms by helping with things like producing student resources as well as with checking correspondence, newsletters, and preparing materials, the government said.

Some teachers reported saving more than an hour per week on producing lesson resources, according to the government.

"NSWEduChat does not replace the valuable work of our teachers, it helps them to save time, tailor their resources, and focus on their critical work in the classroom," Ms Car said in a statement.

"The expansion of this trial to all teachers is part of our work to reduce the admin burden and get more teachers in front of our students."

The rollout comes after the state's education department in 2023 banned the AI-powered ChatGPT in state schools over concerns students were using it to cheat on work.

The government says NSWEduChat can only respond to questions it deems relevant to school work and will not provide a full answer, but rather asks students follow-up questions to get them to think critically about a topic.

The move comes as NSW struggles to solve a shortage of teachers, with Ms Car in August saying teacher job vacancies had dropped to fewer than 1700 statewide.

NSW Teachers Federation has been contacted for comment.