ISTELive 26: What Does an AI-Ready Graduate Look Like?

What Is the Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate?

An expanded, research-backed version of the profile was released during the conference’s opening keynote.

“This profile is not about getting your foundational knowledge about AI,” South said. “It’s not about all of the deeply critical thinking that you need to learn to do with AI. It’s about the skills that you’re going to be expected to apply in the workforce when you graduate.” 

The profile defines six roles that students need to embody to partner with AI as a tool for the future: Learner, Researcher, Synthesizer, Problem Solver, Connector and Storyteller. Accompanying each role is a set of skills and practices that students should have and be able to perform. 

It is built on ISTE+ASCD’s Transformational Learning Principles and the ISTE Standards for Students. These frameworks guide technology use, build digital citizenship and elevate reflection. 

“Something else that the AI profile shares with ISTE standards is that it's discipline-agnostic,” said Carolyn Sykora, senior director of ISTE Standards at ISTE. “These skills are not just for CTE courses. They’re not just for computer science courses. These are skills that teachers across a student’s academic life will be able to contribute to help building each student’s skills in these areas.”

DISCOVER: Technology tools enable classroom modernization.

How Can the Profile Be Applied in the Classroom?

With the framework for developing AI-ready graduates clearly defined, presenters shared how the roles can be developed within a classroom setting.

“There’s a sense of uncertainty because there is that big question: Is AI going to replace my job, is AI going to affect my future in a negative way?” said Cindy Lewis, curriculum designer for TCI and director of education at Timberline Prep in Texas. “But on the other hand, there's also a lot of possibility and hope, so our goal is to hopefully prepare our students for that and start generating ideas using AI as a partner, not as a replacement.”

One core idea is that AI should deepen students’ capacity as researchers to think critically and investigate the world, not simply retrieve facts. Instead of sending students to perform a generic search, teachers are building AI-powered experiences that guide them to narrow their focus, interrogate sources and ask better questions. 

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“AI can help you deeply investigate topics, evaluate claims,” said Hu-Ann Wren, a teacher at Patton Elementary School in Austin, Texas. “I teach gifted students, and my students do their own independent studies on topics that that they find interesting. I can use these AI tools to teach them how to find their own information and dive deeper into whatever research topic they are studying.” She encourages students to ask AI what makes the sources they provide credible, turning the tool into a coach for evaluating evidence.

Lewis said that as synthesizers, rather than simply asking the AI to shorten or summarize a text, students can use it to combine multiple ideas or texts and then verify the results. As a social studies teacher, she often uses AI to surface resources to help teach a specific lesson. Tools such as Google NotebookLM can help turn dense policies or texts into scaffolded, easily digestible formats without eliminating the need to read and think.

The connector role focuses on human relationships. Lewis noted that AI can support communication and collaboration between humans rather than acting as a replacement. 

“I work with a lot of English language learners, and it’s a great, low-stakes way to help with conversation practice, and to lower that filter so they’re not as nervous, because AI is not a person, so it doesn’t matter,” she said. “It’s not going to judge. It’s a great way to have conversation practice and role play.”

LEARN MORE: Huntsville City Schools prepares students for technical careers.

Storytelling is another powerful domain where AI can both lower barriers and raise expectations. Wren gave an example of a third-grade student writing a story called “The Three Little Potatoes” and using Adobe Express to generate images that supported his story. She emphasized that students should still draft and revise in their own words, but AI can help them express themselves differently. 

“You don't have to finish an entire story to be working on this skill,” she said. “You can have them just generate characters and characteristics. If you’re using the generative AI, the amount of language that’s necessary for kids to be descriptive enough to create a character that they want is a lesson in descriptive writing as it is. But then, on top of that, they’re starting to imagine and work through these ideas, so having them work with the AI tools can help them take their storytelling to a level that they’ve never had before.”

While defining these roles through the lens of AI might seem like a new concept, ultimately these are evergreen skills that will last students a lifetime. 

“We’re always going to need learners, we’re always going to need problem-solvers, we’re always going to need storytellers,” South said. “However the technology changes, those roles are here to stay, and actually, they’re even more important.”

Visit this page to catch up on all of our ISTELive 26 coverage.