A recent report from Policy Analysis for California Education aims to provide education leaders with a better understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it can be used in education by exploring its potential strengths and limitations. Generative AI in particular has become a prevalent topic of conversation in education with the rising popularity of ChatGPT and similar programs. This type of AI differs from traditional computing because it learns from the patterns and structure of its inputs and uses machine-learning algorithms to form neural networks rather than following step-by-step programming, which can make it unpredictable. Optimists see AI as a tool enabling teachers to focus more on building caring and trusting relationships and develop lessons tailored to students’ needs, backgrounds, cultures and more. Pessimists envision a future in which students using AI will spend less time interacting with human teachers and peers while misusing AI tools or, perhaps worse, relying on AI educational resources rife with biases, misinformation, oversimplification and other issues. From the federal to the local level, education policymakers must consider an array of differing views to harness the potential and mitigate the hazards presented by advances in AI technologies, according to the report.