Small World Consulting

In January of 2026, the center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institute released the results and guidance from their mukti-year Global Task Force on AI in Education that began in the fall of 2024.  

Fortunately for those of us in education, the organization also put forward a summary of their report: A New Direction for Students in an AI World: Prosper, Prepare, Protect. 

They called their work a “pre-mortem” (an interesting idea in its own right) which was guided by the following two questions:

• What are the potential negative risks that generative AI poses to the education of children and youth?
• Assuming these potential risks, what can we begin to do now to prevent them while maximizing the potential benefits of AI? 

Generally speaking, we in education are encouraged to proceed with caution. Ultimately the report puts forward a framework for action based on three pillars: Prosper, Prepare and Protect. 

I thought it might be appropriate to include some AI generated content here : ) . The following is a ChatGTP four sentence synopsis of the “A New Direction …” report summary I referenced earlier. It’s pretty darn good!  

The Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal Education concludes that, at present, the risks of generative AI in education outweigh its benefits, particularly because AI can undermine students’ cognitive, social, and emotional development. Based on a yearlong global “premortem” study involving stakeholders across 50 countries, the report warns that overreliance on AI may weaken learning capacity, trust in teachers, and student well-being. However, the authors argue it is still possible to redirect AI’s trajectory to enrich learning if it is designed and implemented with strong pedagogical intent and ethical safeguards. To that end, the report proposes a framework—Prosper, Prepare, Protect—with 12 actionable recommendations for schools, governments, companies, and families to ensure AI supports rather than diminishes student development.