With AI tools flooding the education space, teachers face a critical question: can technology support their work without compromising safety, professionalism, or student outcomes?
In an education landscape increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence (AI), Australian teachers are looking for tools that understand the realities of the classroom and place educators at the centre of decision-making.
Twinkl, the global education publisher, has responded with Twinkl Ari AI – a purpose-built AI assistant designed for teachers, by educators. Unlike general-use AI platforms, Ari has been engineered to reduce teacher workload, protect student safety, and inspire high-quality teaching and learning – without ever replacing professional expertise.
Twinkl co-founder and CEO Mr Jonathan Seaton says the company’s approach to AI is grounded in the same mission that has guided it since day one: to help those who teach.
“AI represents both risk and opportunity, but our approach to everything is always guided by one central question: how will this further our mission to help the educator?,” Mr Seaton says.
That question underpins every aspect of Twinkl Ari AI’s development. Mr Seaton is clear that the goal isn’t to replace teachers or automate pedagogy, but to support teachers in practical, time-saving ways while respecting their expertise.
“I believe our role is to embody the best usage of this new technology – supporting, not replacing, the teacher. AI can never replicate the deep content knowledge and pedagogical skill that teachers bring. But it can help them do their jobs more efficiently and creatively.”
Purpose-built for schools
Twinkl Ari AI isn’t a generic chatbot or standalone product. It’s an integrated tool embedded directly within Twinkl’s existing suite of teaching resources, giving educators the ability to generate differentiated questions, adapt lessons for diverse learners, and brainstorm curriculum-aligned activities with confidence.
Unlike general AI tools, which can produce unpredictable or inappropriate results, Twinkl Ari AI is tailored to the classroom context.
“Prompts are carefully engineered for high-quality, reliable results,” Mr Seaton says.
And while some AI models scrape the web for information in real time, raising serious safety and safeguarding concerns, Ari AI operates in a closed, secure environment. The company notes that Ari AI cannot browse the internet, and as a result, this makes it a significantly safer option for schools concerned about inappropriate content or safeguarding risks.
For school leaders and IT teams, data privacy remains a major concern in the use of AI. Twinkl addresses this head-on by ensuring that all user data remains securely hosted within its platform and is never used to train future AI models.
“Twinkl Ari AI is designed with safety at its core,” Mr Seaton says. “It meets the highest standards of data protection, ensuring that the data you enter isn’t being used for any purpose other than giving you high-quality outcomes.”
A tool that respects teacher autonomy
What sets Ari AI apart isn’t just what it can do, but how it does it. The system provides teachers with inspiration and structure, not answers or finished products.
The company says Ari AI provides starting points and inspiration – never final answers – ensuring that teachers stay firmly in control.
That philosophy is central to Twinkl’s commitment to ethical, effective AI use in schools.
Mr Seaton is clear that teachers remain at the heart of every classroom decision, stating that “AI acts as a supportive tool, not a substitute for professional expertise. The bottom line is we’re here to serve educators however we can – and our focus will always be doing this.”
Empower your teaching. Discover Twinkl AI at https://www.twinkl.com.au/l/fsq8n
