Mr. Blair's Wager: A Pragmatist's Argument for AI Integration

For this blog post, I’ve adapted the structure and spirit of Pascal’s Wager—a philosophical argument—to explore the ongoing debate about integrating AI into our classrooms. 

Undoubtedly, many educators, myself included, have begun to make space for AI in our classrooms, both as a learning tool and a topic for discussion, while many others have taken a "wait and see" approach. 

I've always considered myself a pragmatist, so my approach to AI is, in a sense, hedging my bets. I'm choosing a direction that prepares students for multiple possible futures.

The Possibilities:

As educators, we face uncertainty about the long-term impact of AI—on both the education system and society at large.

To keep things simple, let’s narrow the range of AI outcomes to two opposing scenarios. For the sake of argument, we’ll assume they’re equally likely. Here are the possibilities:

1. AI lives up to its hype and shakes the foundations of our society, including education.

2. The impact of AI levels off. For most people, its influence doesn’t meaningfully exceed its current form and could best be characterized as a trend.

Mr. Blair’s Wager:

With those two possibilities in mind, we must choose one of the following courses of action:

1. Meaningfully Integrating AI—its tools, applications, ethics, and risks—into our classrooms. 

2. Avoid Integrating AI—due to its uncertainty, discomfort, or perceived irrelevance—into our classrooms. 

If You Meaningfully Integrate AI in Your Classroom:

Your students gain essential skills and insights that prepare them for a future in which AI may be a powerful force. 

Even if AI’s current trajectory slows, they still learn to think critically about technology and its role in society.

If You Don’t Integrate AI in Your Classroom:

If AI lives up to the hype, your students may find themselves unprepared and at a disadvantage compared to peers in other classes or schools. They could leave your classroom without the tools or understanding needed to navigate an AI-integrated world.

On the other hand, if AI’s influence wanes, you might feel validated for not diverting valuable instructional time. Still, your students will have missed a meaningful learning opportunity—even if it turns out to be less essential than some once believed.

The Conclusion:

When faced with uncertainty, we, as educators, should choose the option with the greatest potential benefit and the least risk for our students' learning.

Even if AI’s influence on society remains unclear, the cost of not preparing students is too great a risk to entertain. I want to prepare my students for whatever comes next—even when "what's next" is hard to see. Perhaps Mr. Blair’s Wager doesn't offer me certainty, but it brings me some peace of mind.

AI Disclosure: I used ChatGPT to edit for punctuation and clarity. I also used it to generate the feature image and help with the organization of my post.