It is an understandable question. Generative AI arrived with remarkable speed. New tools appear almost weekly. Many educators feel pressure to respond before they fully understand the implications.

But perhaps the more important question is a different one.

How should education evolve in a world where AI exists?

That distinction matters because technology has often promised to solve human problems. Sometimes it succeeds. Sometimes it simply makes existing systems more complicated.

At the Education Technology Summit at ISE 2026, Rens van der Vorst explored this tension through an unexpected lens: football. In his keynote, Don’t Mention the VAR, he used the video assistant referee as a parable for what can happen when technology designed to improve decision-making starts to change the nature of the decision itself. His argument was not anti-technology. It was a reminder that tools must serve human intention, not overwhelm it.

Digital systems are never neutral. They carry assumptions about what matters, what should be measured and what should be acted upon.

Learning management systems promised efficiency. Analytics promised insight. Dashboards promised better decision-making. AI now promises personalisation, automation and scale.

Yet many educators would argue that technology can sometimes create as much friction as it removes.

The problem is not technology itself. The problem is that institutions can become so focused on systems, rules and compliance that they lose sight of the reason those systems exist in the first place.

Education was never created to generate dashboards.

It was created to help people learn.

That sounds obvious. Yet as digital tools become more sophisticated, there is a growing risk that measurement starts to overshadow purpose.

Attendance systems can monitor behaviour, but they cannot measure curiosity. Analytics can identify patterns, but they cannot understand motivation. AI can generate content, but it cannot replace trust between teachers and students.

The challenge for institutions is ensuring that technology supports educational goals rather than redefining them.

At ISE 2027, exhibitors including Logitech, Epson and Yealink continue to focus on technologies designed to support collaboration, accessibility and hybrid learning experiences. Increasingly, the emphasis is shifting away from technology for its own sake and towards tools that help educators teach more effectively.

That change reflects a broader shift across education.

The most successful institutions are not necessarily adopting the most technology. They are adopting the most appropriate technology.

Sometimes innovation means introducing new tools. Sometimes it means simplifying existing systems. Sometimes it means removing unnecessary complexity altogether.

This is particularly important as AI becomes more deeply embedded within education. The conversation should not simply be about what AI can do. It should be about what educators want learning to achieve.

Technology naturally favours rules. Human beings focus on intentions.

Those two things are not always the same.

The institutions likely to thrive over the next decade may be the ones that resist treating technology as the centre of the story. Instead, they will treat it as support.

Great education has always depended on great teachers, strong relationships and meaningful experiences. Technology matters, but only when it helps people do those things better.

As AI continues to reshape education, that may prove to be the most important distinction of all.

That is one reason why conversations around AI, learning spaces and educational strategy are becoming increasingly important at Integrated Systems Europe.

The tools will continue to change.

The purpose of education should not.

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Discover more about education technology at ISE 2027.