DepEd: Students should develop critical thinking to fight 'AI fakes'

Education Secretary Sonny Angara stressed the need to strengthen critical thinking skills among students in a bid to fight AI-generated 'fakes' online.

“Magaling talaga ang AI. So, kailangan maingat ang tao ngayon. Kailangang maging mapanuri at iyan ay gusto rin naming ituro sa eskwelahan. Iyan ay bahagi ng tinatawag nating critical thinking,” Angara said in an ambush interview on Wednesday.

(AI is really good, so people need to be careful now. They need to be critical, and that is what we want to teach in school. That is part of what we call critical thinking.)

The Department of Education (DepEd), meanwhile, is now working on establishing a dedicated AI research center to help Filipino learners understand and navigate the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

“Hindi mo dapat bibigyan ng AI kung di pa siya marunong magbasa. Unahin muna ang pagbabasa,” Angara said, explaining that strong foundational skills like reading must come first before deeper technological integration.

(You shouldn't give AI to him if he can't read yet.)

He added that AI is already being used in schools through platforms like Khanmigo, which streamlines lesson planning for teachers. 

It is an AI-powered learning assistant developed by Khan Academy and made freely available to public school teachers and learners nationwide. Launched in the Philippines in December 2024, Khanmigo is helping students with math, reading comprehension and even personalized learning pathways.

"Yung dati, dalawang araw, isang oras gawanan niya yung buong lesson plan,” he said.

 “We (also) gave AI tutor to our teachers also so they can check if what they're teaching is correct. They can check themselves,” Angara added.

The DepEd’s push comes amid growing concerns about misinformation and disinformation campaigns that leverage realistic AI-generated content.

With the school year underway, Angara emphasized that protecting students from digital deception is just as important as ensuring access to classrooms and basic learning resources. —VAL, GMA Integrated News