The rise of AI is one of the most prominent technology developments of the decade. UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that the industry will be worth $4.8 billion by 2033, and the Carnegie Center found that, while the first AI models in the 1990s couldn’t accomplish even basic tasks, by 2022, systems surpassed human performance in image recognition, speech recognition, and resolving basic language ambiguities.
AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok, and Deepseek are all household names today. While AI can seem like a thing of the future or far-off research facilities and academia, it has influenced society at every level. HC is no exception, and Ryan Montgomery is here for it.
A history teacher at HC, Montgomery has taken the AI age in stride, saying that, “In December of 2025, I made a sustained commitment to integrate AI into my curriculum development. And a goal I have, as I look to next school year and to close out this school year, is how to provide better clarity and support for student AI literacy.”
This commitment, Montgomery finds, has been a major benefit for the classroom.
“I’ve been able to… have an energy and a capacity level that feels like I’m in my third or fourth year of teaching. And it’s my 24th year… so does it help to make teaching more efficient? I believe so.”
AI literacy may still seem to be something only computer science lovers would need in their lives. Otherwise, it’s easy to imagine that a simple understanding of ChatGPT’s prompt systems might be sufficient for the average HC student. This may not be the case, however.
“[In] schools that promote AI literacy,” said Montgomery, “those students are going to be more and more competitive in the economy of today, tomorrow. [Schools] that aren’t intentional with implementation, … those students may have a more difficult time getting into the workforce or college.”
That’s not just a general statement, either.
“Amazon was one of the first [companies],” said Montgomery, “to say that if you’re gonna get a promotion within the organization, you have to have a documented demonstration of AI use and improving your efficiency. So, I think in education, the question becomes, what are your organizational goals for AI, who’s establishing those? How’s that being communicated, and how’s that being supported?”
Montgomery refers to Jamie Siminoff, the founder and manager of Ring,which has been bought by Amazon. In 2025, according to Business Insider, he announced that all promotion applications at his Amazon division Ring, Blink, Key, and Sidewalk (RBKS) must explain how employees are using AI at work. AI literacy is, therefore, a real credential in the workforce that is rapidly becoming crucial.
AI usage isn’t just important, it’s widespread at HC. “[What] I find with students,” said Montgomery, “is that in the absence of guidance, especially since FCPS allowed Gemini access through the Google Suite, it’s every student every day.”
Montgomery is more cautious about student use of AI, however. There are still certainly benefits, but HC students might consider being less quick to hop on the AI train as their teachers. But first, the good news.
“The comparison I draw there,” said Montgomery, “is to the economy and how, if you are in some level of affluence, the economy continues to reward you. Whereas, if you are in a chronic state of poverty, the economy continues to become more and more challenging for you to seemingly get ahead. And from what I’ve read and heard, AI could be thought of similarly.”
It’s a clear callback to the workforce issue: students need to know how to use AI, or they might get left behind. Even still, there’s cause for concern, and Montgomery warns against being too hawkish.
“[It’s] learned helplessness, right?” said Montgomery, referencing the tendency of AI to replace learning outright when improperly utilized. “So, I mean, the comparison is when the calculator came out… how is your automaticity for multiplication still something that is rigorously practiced?”
Montgomery refers to the school system, which still requires students to learn multiplication in spite of calculators that can do the process for students.
‘Once you then have a command of that,” continued Montgomery, “you’re able to apply it, versus the mental outsourcing for AI that has profound societal consequences… it’s influencing a kind of collective human group think. So innovation, imagination, ingenuity, which have all been hallmarks of our economic system, [are put in jeopardy]. You know, we’ve got to be really intentional with how we plan and use AI and then where we carve out other spaces.”
Montgomery echoes a chilling warning: it’s critical to learn to use AI, but regulators must prevent it from destroying the basic cognitive abilities of students. That says nothing of the cheating issue either, which is increasingly a concern at all American schools, with HC as no exception.
It might be tempting to suggest that AI should, therefore, be kept away from students and highly regulated overall. However, it has real benefits such as those Montgomery outlined, and attempts to regulate AI must consider that its rise cannot be stopped, only controlled and made useful rather than harmful.
“The genie’s out of the bottle,” said Montgomery. “It’s here, and we’ve got to learn to use it or we’re going to be on the losing end of it.”
