The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) — America’s second‑largest teachers union — has teamed up with Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic to launch a $23 million AI Teaching Academy in New York City. Its stated goal: Train teachers to better use large language models (LLMs) in classrooms nationwide in preparation for their further implementation in the workforce.

This initiative isn’t just about adopting a powerful tool and making it accessible. It’s a signal that the field arguably the most vulnerable to disruption, is embracing the very technology that threatens its core. In many cases, it is not speculative: it already has.