A major change is happening in schools and colleges around the world this week, thanks to AI agents—special computer programs that can do tasks on their own. Canvas, which is a tool used by more than 40 percent of colleges in North America, just released its own AI agent called IgniteAI Agent. Instead of helping students cheat, this tool helps teachers save time by doing jobs like checking student work and organizing course materials.

However, educators are worried about the power of these AI agents. Some schools are concerned that AI agents might be able to complete entire courses without students actually learning anything. Teachers are asking important questions: How do we know if students are actually doing their own work? What happens when AI can write better essays than many students?

The good news is that colleges are already finding solutions. Teachers are trying new ways to teach that make it harder for AI to cheat, such as asking students to turn in their work step-by-step or explain their thinking out loud. Many schools are also looking at their AI policies—the rules about how AI can be used—to make sure they protect real learning.

Experts say we need to rethink how we teach and test students. AI agents are very powerful tools that can handle many tasks at once, but they still cannot think like humans do. Teachers and students still need to do the real thinking and creating that education is supposed to teach. Schools are working hard to figure out how to use AI agents to help learning, not hurt it.