Towards Synergistic Teacher-AI Interactions with Generative Artificial Intelligence

Synthesis: Drawing on a systematic literature review, this UCL chapter proposes a five-level framework of teacher-AI teaming—transactional, situational, operational, praxical, and synergistic—to capture how GenAI interactions may replace, complement, or augment teacher competence. The framework moves beyond task division toward collaborative decision-making where teachers and AI engage in negotiation, constructive challenge, and co-reasoning.

Five Levels of Teacher-AI Teaming

The framework defines a progression from minimal to maximal teacher-AI collaboration:

1. Transactional — AI executes a concrete task on request with no shared context. Teacher sends prompt, AI returns output. Example: generating a quiz from a topic list. Risk: cognitive offloading without professional growth.

2. Situational — AI gathers data from the teaching/learning context and reports it back. A shared state exists for the task. Example: AI summarizes classroom discussion data. Teacher remains the primary decision-maker.

3. Operational — Teacher sets goals; AI not only reports context but also proposes actions to achieve those goals. AI moves beyond task execution into action planning. Example: AI recommends pedagogical interventions based on student performance data.

4. Praxical — AI incorporates learning patterns from prior interactions to adapt its behavior over time. The system learns from teacher feedback and refines its models. Teacher and AI develop shared practice.

5. Synergistic — Both agents engage in negotiation, constructive challenge, and co-reasoning that enhance each other’s capabilities. Outcomes emerge that neither could realize independently. This is the highest level of hybrid intelligence.

Key Insights

Beyond task automation: Most current GenAI use in education operates at transactional or situational levels. Moving toward operational, praxical, and synergistic teaming requires deliberate design of the interaction paradigm, not just better models.

Teacher agency is central: The framework argues that GenAI integration should enhance—not diminish—teacher agency. Higher teaming levels require teachers to actively engage in decision-making rather than passively accept AI outputs.

Cognitive atrophy risk: Fully offloading teaching tasks to AI at lower teaming levels risks diminishing teachers' cognitive engagement and professional growth (deprofessionalization).

Socio-technical factors matter: Beyond technological design, organizational culture, professional development, ethical guidelines, and institutional support shape whether teacher-AI interactions reach synergistic levels.

Hybrid intelligence: The vision is teachers and AI as complementary agents—each bringing distinct capabilities—rather than AI as a replacement.

Connected Concepts

Curriculum Design

Equity In AI Education

Teacher AI Competency

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Citation

Cukurova, M., Suraworachet, W., Zhou, Q., & Bulathwela, S. (2025). Towards Synergistic Teacher-AI Interactions with Generative Artificial Intelligence. arXiv preprint.