By Thom Markham
The next world is AI-integrated, project-driven, future-focused, and human-inspired
Is AI bad or good? Should we recoil in fear or embrace a technology that some see as threatening human creativity? That question divides opinion today, and schools—more than any other institutions—must confront it directly. Schools exist to teach knowledge and develop intelligence. Now a powerful technology arrives that can do both, and sometimes better. The correct response is not avoidance but rethinking how we teach so young people are prepared to live with and shape AI.
No one has all the answers yet, but we know enough about learning and the limits of current schooling to begin important reforms. The goal for adults should be simple: prepare the next generation to be smart enough to understand, collaborate with, and ethically use AI. That is the guiding philosophy behind PBL Future Labs, the new organization I co-founded with Phil Alcock. Our aim is to cross the AI divide and build a vision of learning that integrates AI as a creative partner alongside human intelligence, supporting positive futures.
Remaining focused on recall, compliance, and standardized routines will not do. If schools do not shift toward creativity and authentic problem solving, the real risks—rising plagiarism, homework copying, and a blurred boundary between original work and prompt engineering—will grow worse. The deeper risk is that human capacities traditionally valued in classrooms could be sidelined by technologies that break the old rules of curriculum and testing. Nearly every assumption about current classroom practices is now open to question.
One proven response for educators is familiar: project-based learning (PBL). In our view, PBL is back—and updated for the AI era.
I have been a PBL teacher, advocate, and consultant for nearly thirty years, working with hundreds of schools and thousands of teachers. I have always believed in PBL, but the movement stalled in many places under testing pressures and a rigid system. Too often early enthusiasm for authentic projects faded into low-level exercises or was abandoned entirely. PBL conflicted with systems built to deliver information and measure rote performance rather than support inquiry, creativity, and durable life and workplace skills.
Then AI arrived. Over the last two years I observed how AI made PBL not only viable again but more powerful. Where teachers once hit barriers of time and imagination while designing projects, AI can now remove many obstacles. When I partnered with Phil Alcock—an Australian educator with IT experience and a deep, creative approach to AI—I saw how AI could accelerate project design, translate standards into meaningful projects, and become an ethical, instructive tool for student teams.
PBL 2.0
We call this evolved approach AI-integrated project-based learning, or PBL 2.0. It preserves PBL’s core: students solve authentic, meaningful problems collaboratively and present solutions to real audiences. But PBL 2.0 also expands the model. It blends design thinking, place-based projects, short learning missions and longer investigations, and an updated set of skills that build toward a broad AI literacy.
AI is not simply grafted on to older PBL. Instead, it transforms the workflow: it helps teachers turn curriculum standards into project concepts, draft learning sequences, and generate resources that would have taken hours or days to produce by hand. This removes the chief practical barrier many teachers face—how to teach required content through a project—while preserving human-centered critical thinking and creativity.
Crucially, AI-generated plans are starting points, not substitutes. Once AI produces ideas, teachers and students use their judgment: Which projects will engage learners? Which are feasible? How will teams collaborate on a meaningful, “wicked” problem? By reducing front-end design time, AI allows teachers to devote more energy to facilitation: guiding inquiry, coaching collaboration, and deepening student reflection.
For many educators who once hesitated about PBL, learning to use AI in the design process has turned hesitation into advocacy. AI can produce complete “Learning Missions”—short design sprints or extended projects—that align with standards and spark student curiosity. But these missions work only when human intelligence shapes them to fit context, purpose, and the needs of learners.
Building teacher capacity
Adoption of PBL 2.0 requires widespread investment in teacher capacity. Globally there are about 85 million teachers; reinventing education in the age of AI is a collective task. Schools are taking different approaches to student access to AI tools, and sensible guardrails are needed while AI becomes pervasive. In the near term, teachers are likely to lead adoption—student use will often lag—so preparation, professional development, and clear practice guidelines are essential.
One critical breakthrough is using AI to map standards and curriculum codes into project experiences. Rather than a fragmented list of skills and knowledge to cover, AI can surface integrated, expressive projects that make learning purposeful. This creates “doingness” that excites students, reduces incentives to cheat, and builds deeper understanding.
Another advantage: AI saves planning time. With quality prompts, teachers can generate drafts of learning sequences, assessment criteria, and resource lists. Teachers then adapt, refine, and co-design projects with students. The result is a richer classroom focus on collaboration and problem solving rather than mechanical instruction. In short, AI can automate some workflows in education just as it does in industry—but only if the system embraces a project-based approach that values genuine inquiry and creativity.
The ultimate vision: a positive future
PBL 2.0 is not a silver bullet. Teachers alone cannot solve deep social and environmental problems, nor will any single classroom approach fix systemic issues. But by orienting student work toward sustainability, regeneration, and social impact, schools can cultivate purpose-driven learning. Purpose engages learners, inspires higher performance, and makes cheating irrelevant while fostering creative intelligence.
Our mission at PBL Future Labs is to support schools in designing ecosystems where PBL 2.0 thrives—where AI amplifies human creativity and young people develop the competence and character to improve their communities and the wider world. That requires a village of educators willing to explore, ask hard questions, and reinvent professional practice.
Phil and I model that approach. He works from Acapulco, where he watches manta rays leap from the bay and wonders why they jump—mating, feeding, or simply joyful motion? Nobody knows. That mystery is a useful reminder: the future will hold surprises, and education must prepare young people to be curious, resilient, and inventive.
Welcome to the future of education. Join us. PBL Future Labs offers online courses and supports schools and leaders as they move into the new world of AI and project-based learning.
Editor’s Note: This article was shared by our partner publication, ET Magazine.
About the author
Thom Markham is an author, PBL pioneer, positive psychologist, and entrepreneur who has worked with thousands of teachers and hundreds of schools worldwide. He founded PBL Global and co-founded PBL Future Labs. His book, Redefining Smart: Awakening Students’ Power to Reimagine Their World, reflects his commitment to mobilizing youth as design thinkers, insightful citizens, and empathetic collaborators focused on sustainability and the common good.