Vijay Eswaran on AI’s Role in the Classroom
Education Must Teach Thinking, Not Just Information
Artificial intelligence has fundamentally altered what it means to be educated. When students can generate comprehensive essays with a few keystrokes and solve complex mathematical problems through AI assistants, the traditional model of testing memorized knowledge has become obsolete.
This transformation forces a critical question: if machines can instantly access and process information, what should human education focus on instead?
“We have to reinvent the wheel,” says education entrepreneur Vijay Eswaran. “Kids today have access to writing essays at a flick of a switch. We need to now approach it not by what knowledge they can garner and produce on paper, but how are they processing this?”
Educational institutions worldwide are grappling with this reality, recognizing that the skills valued in classrooms must align with capabilities that remain uniquely human in an AI-dominated landscape.
From Memory to Method
The shift represents more than technological adaptation—it demands a complete rethinking of educational objectives. Traditional assessments that reward information retention are becoming irrelevant when AI can instantly provide comprehensive answers to virtually any factual question.
Forward-thinking institutions have already begun adapting. Some universities now allow students to bring laptops and reference materials into examinations, acknowledging that success depends not on memorizing facts but on processing and applying information effectively.
“They’re not questioning your memory power or your ability to absorb information. They’re questioning your ability to process it,” Eswaran explains.
This approach mirrors real workplace conditions, where professionals regularly use digital tools to access information while adding human judgment, creativity, and strategic thinking to solve complex problems.
Vijay Eswaran’s Vision for Assessment Reform
The transition requires educators to develop entirely new questioning techniques that probe cognitive processes rather than factual recall. Instead of asking students to reproduce information, teachers must explore how students arrive at conclusions.
“We need to challenge the ability to process, implement and restructure their thinking,” Eswaran argues. “It’s more important to ask the student, ‘This is all very interesting, the essay you wrote. How did you get here? Where did this come from? Which pathway did you use?'”
These process-focused questions reveal critical thinking patterns that no AI can replicate: the ability to synthesize information from multiple sources, identify underlying assumptions, challenge conventional wisdom, and develop novel solutions to complex problems.
Such inquiries also expose whether students genuinely understand the material or merely relied on AI to generate responses without comprehension.
Embracing Rather Than Fighting Technology
Rather than viewing AI as a threat to educational integrity, progressive educators see an opportunity to enhance human capabilities. The technology can handle routine information processing, freeing students to focus on higher-order thinking skills.
“AI has come to stay. We can’t ignore it. We can’t evade it. We have to accept it, we have to embrace it,” Eswaran emphasizes.
This acceptance doesn’t mean abandoning academic rigor. Instead, it requires elevating standards to focus on uniquely human capabilities: emotional intelligence, ethical reasoning, creative problem-solving, and the ability to navigate ambiguous situations.
Students who learn to work effectively with AI tools while developing strong analytical skills will be better prepared for careers where human-machine collaboration becomes the norm.
Preparing Entrepreneurial Minds
The cognitive flexibility required in AI-enhanced education mirrors the adaptability essential for entrepreneurship and innovation. Students who learn to question assumptions, explore multiple solution pathways, and synthesize diverse information sources develop the mental agility that drives business creation and technological advancement.
“What we need to engage is the plasticity of the human brain,” Eswaran notes. “That critical thinking is what creates entrepreneurs. It’s where startup ventures start from.”
Educational institutions that successfully make this transition will produce graduates capable of leveraging AI tools while contributing distinctly human value to their organizations and communities.
The transformation challenges educators to move beyond comfortable testing methods toward more demanding assessment approaches that require genuine understanding of student thinking processes. While this shift demands additional effort and expertise from teachers, it offers the potential to produce graduates truly prepared for an AI-integrated future.
Schools that embrace this evolution will equip students not just to coexist with artificial intelligence, but to harness its capabilities while contributing the creative, ethical, and strategic thinking that remains fundamentally human.
