When Jordan Mroziak talks about artificial intelligence in education, he doesn’t start with algorithms or automation. He starts with art.
A former music technology major turned educator and researcher, Mroziak has spent his career exploring how technology can support, not replace, the deeply human elements of learning. “I’ve always been interested in how we can leverage technology for things that are very human about us,” he explained. “What is it to dig into technology for fostering curiosity or growing a sense of community in a classroom?”
Now an education consultant and Fulbright Specialist on AI Literacy and Emerging Learning Technologies, Mroziak has helped organizations around the world, including AMLE, rethink how schools approach artificial intelligence. Speaking as a guest on a recent episode of Middle School Walk & Talk with hosts Phyllis Fagell and Jessica McGuire, he reflected on his path from teaching courses on the history of rock and roll and hip hop to advising AMLE on its position paper on AI in middle level education, and on why he believes the conversation about AI must remain grounded in human development.
Rethinking the “Efficiency” Narrative
Mroziak cautioned that education’s embrace of AI often begins with the wrong question: How can this make things faster or easier? “There are two bad words in my mind when I think of learning,” he said. “Efficiency and optimization. I don’t love them because I don’t think learning is an efficient thing. As humans, we’re deeply inefficient creatures, and that’s part of the beauty of it.”
While he acknowledges that AI can help relieve educators of some repetitive tasks, such as lesson planning, communication drafting, or data organization, he warns against allowing efficiency to become the end goal. “It’s okay to use these tools,” he said, “as long as we’re keeping oversight and not just taking what we get from it and using it carte blanche.”
Instead, Mroziak urges schools to ask bigger questions about what kinds of learning they want to reward. “If we want creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking to show up in a classroom,” he noted, “then we need systems that actually make space for those things.” That means rethinking assessment and valuing the process of learning, not just the final product.
From Automation to Agency
Many educators first encounter AI as a tool for automating tasks, but Mroziak believes its greatest potential lies in empowering students to become creators. He described his work with PlayLab AI, a nonprofit that allows educators and students to build and train their own custom language models in a safe, controlled environment. “It’s a sandbox approach,” he explained. “You can decide what kind of rules you want to build into it, what skills or knowledge you want it to have. And that gives both teachers and students a look behind the curtain.”
For Mroziak, this kind of exploration demystifies AI. “We need to pull away the lens that it’s some all-knowing answer machine,” he said. “Any technology is made by humans, and humans have flaws. So when students get to see how it breaks, they start to understand it as a tool, not as something smarter than they are.”
That process, he added, helps students develop agency and digital literacy, while also nurturing the social-emotional skills that define middle school. “If we can give kids a safe space to tinker, to question, to build, to notice when something doesn’t work, that’s where real curiosity and creativity start to take hold.”
AI, Wellness, and the “Loneliness Question”
As conversations around AI and student safety continue, Mroziak also emphasized the importance of emotional awareness. “One of the things we have to guard against,” he said, “is anthropomorphizing the machine. It has human-like aspects, but it’s not your friend. It doesn’t know your family, your context, your circumstance.”
He worries that for some students, especially those who feel isolated, the always-available nature of AI could blur the line between tool and companion. “When learners go to AI for advice or affirmation, that’s a signal we need to talk about what they’re seeking,” he said. “Those are human needs. Technology shouldn’t be a band-aid for systemic issues like loneliness or disconnection.”
At the same time, he recognizes the value of using AI for low-stakes social rehearsal, especially for students who experience social anxiety. “If we can use AI for role-playing in a curated, safe way,” he said, “it might lower anxiety and prepare students to engage more comfortably with real people.” The key, he added, is balance and intentional scaffolding: using technology as a bridge to human connection, not a replacement for it.
Building Shared Language and Trust
As AMLE’s AI advisor, Mroziak has been instrumental in helping the organization frame its position around AI in middle grades education. Rather than focusing on the technology itself, he said, AMLE’s approach emphasizes developmental readiness, ethical reflection, and holistic wellness. “There are plenty of groups doing the technical work,” he explained. “AMLE’s unique role is to help educators ask the right questions about the learner, about the community, about what we’re really in service of.”
That focus on community extends to parents and caregivers, too. “Students don’t exist only in classrooms,” Mroziak noted. “They go home to families who also deserve to understand how AI is being used.” He suggested practical ways to bring families into the conversation, from parent book clubs and newsletters to podcast episodes like Walk & Talk that demystify the technology. “We’re all in a place of learning right now,” he said. “We can make best guesses, but they should be informed, safe, and built on trust.”
Finding Hope in Collaboration
When asked what excites him most about AI’s future in education, Mroziak’s answer was clear: its potential to spotlight the irreplaceable value of teachers. “Educators are not just content distributors,” he said. “They’re relationship builders, curators of experiences, and designers of learning environments. No AI will ever be able to do that.”
His hope is that AI becomes an “artful collaborator,” a supportive partner that helps teachers differentiate instruction, personalize learning, and connect with students more meaningfully. “If it can highlight just how human the act of teaching really is,” he reflected, “then maybe this moment will lead us to honor educators in new ways.”
Still, he acknowledges the uncertainty that comes with innovation. “We’re living in an experimental phase,” he said. “There’s good research emerging, but we’re still taking best guesses. My worry is that we’ve moved fast and broken systems that involve millions of people. So we need to slow down, act with care, and center humanity in every decision.”
For Mroziak, that balance between curiosity and caution, innovation and empathy, is where the real promise of AI lies. “It’s not about replacing what teachers do,” he said. “It’s about creating space for what humans do best: wonder, connect, and learn together.”