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The digital tools and opportunities offered by AI companies for the education providers and students have grown rapidly recently. Various AI tools/models have become a vital part of educators and policies; but the AI’s deployment varies widely among European education providers: some countries are cautious in approaches, others use AIs restrictively, while students are constantly active in the AI’s use. But questions still abound on AIs in education process, on states effectively using AIs and on the AIs perspectives in Europe.
Global accounts for AIs in Europe-2024
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) “Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS-2024)”, the teachers’ use of AI significantly varies among the European states. Among 32 countries, the share of lower secondary school teachers using AI ranges from 14 per cent in France to 52 per cent in Albania as of 2024; in the EU -on average- it is about 32 per cent, and about 36 percent in the OECD countries.
In the OECD survey, the AI use includes making predictions, suggesting decisions or generating text. It covers the use of AI in teaching or to facilitate student learning in the 12 months prior to the survey. Strong regional patterns do not clearly emerge, although in general, Western European countries tend to have lower teacher use of AI compared with the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe. Besides Albania, the share of teachers who used AI at least once reached two in five or more in eight countries/economies. Their shares in percentages were Malta (46), Czechia (46), Romania (46), Poland (45), Kosovo (43), North Macedonia (42), Norway (40) and the Flemish region of Belgium (40).
The countries that used AI in schools the least were in Bulgaria (22), Hungary (23), the French region of Belgium (23), Turkey (24), Italy (25), Finland (27), Montenegro (28), and Slovakia (29).
Problems in the AI application
According to UNESCO, countries have adopted varying policy positions on AI in education, which may have a bearing on teacher awareness and use of AI in Europe: “some countries have been more proactive in driving national AI strategies, which include the education sector, while others have taken a cautionary stance on AI and the use of generative AI in classrooms, providing stricter rules depending on the age of students”.
Senior project manager at OECD (Ruochen Li) made a note that could explain the disparities across the countries: “infrastructure, technological restrictions such as firewalls, social attitudes towards the use of technology in schools and policies that might encourage or discourage teachers from using AI. We do see a strong relationship at the country-level between the amount of training offered about using AI and the use of AI”.
Pedagogical and research managers at the European Schoolnet (B. Hertz and A. Bilgin) pointed out that the wide differences in the use of AI models reflected national education policy systems and culture; i.e. some were taken more precautionary national approaches. Thus, “access to practical support like training and infrastructure is also a critical accelerator; TALIS data confirms that in systems with higher AI use, teachers are more likely to have received professional learning on the topic,” Hertz and Bilgin added.
Reference to “MOOC Empowering teachers as digital lifelong learners in school”, in: https://www.europeanschoolnetacademy.eu/courses/course-v1:ContinueUP+DigitalLifelongLearners+2025/about
For example, France began rolling out nationwide AI training in public schools in 2025, after the TALIS data was collected. In a new and controversial area like AI, the “likely factors” that explain slower AI’s uptake are caution, unclear rules and limited infrastructure. Among other possible reasons for the AI’s gap are the existing quality of teachers’ training, extensive workload, lack of personal motivation and curiosity, according to Martina Di Ridolfo, policy coordinator at the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE).
Present situation with the AIs
Out of teachers who used AI, on average in the European Union (EU-22),
Almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of teachers in the EU using AI say that they use it to efficiently learn about the chosen themes to “summarize the topic”; and 64 per cent use AI to generate lesson plans and/or activities. The rest two respondents’ percentages indicate that AI were used mainly for teachers’ own preparation.
https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/results-from-talis-starting-strong-2024_20af08c0-en.html
Among other AI purposes and users’ points are the following (in %): – helping students practice new skills in real-life scenarios (49); – supporting students with special education needs (40); – automatically adjusting the difficulty of lesson materials according to students’ learning needs (39); – generating text for student feedback or parent/guardian communications (31); – reviewing data on student participation or performance (29); and – assess or mark student work (26).
As the Euro News Next notes, these findings suggest that direct classroom or student-facing AI uses are less common. Teachers mainly rely on AI for their own preparation, while assessment tasks are the least used’ some have suggested that many teachers are likely to use AI mainly ‘behind the scenes’ both presently and in the near future.
The OECD report, however, do not mention, whether teachers have used AI regularly or only tested the models a few times.
Perspectives: AI in schools
Experts agree that AI use in education is “steadily growing” and will continue to expand: they also caution that responsible AI use, clear guidelines and awareness of possible drawbacks must be part of the progress. The European Schoolnet noted that over time, AI systems will possibly interact more often directly with students, e.g. by proposing personalised activities or providing real-time feedback; but teachers should remain the “key interlocutors between the student and the technology” to preserve their agency, ethical oversight and care roles.
UNESCO emphasises the central role of teachers in the AI application in education: “AI tools must complement, not replace, teachers; the AI use should align with ethical standards and educational goals, preserving teachers’ and learners’ autonomy and privacy.
Expecting AI use to grow among both teachers and students, especially with generative tools, some experts highlighted another concern: i.e. due to a “severe teacher shortage in the EU, concrete risks of de-qualification and de-skilling of the profession” can be expected.
Note. All references to: Servet Yanatma (2.12. 2025) “How are teachers in Europe using AI in the classroom and which country uses it the most? – Euro News Next. https://www.euronews.com/next/2025/12/02/