The role of Artificial Intelligence in amplifying educational inequalities in resource constrained mathematics classrooms

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly positioned as a transformative force in education, with particular promise for addressing persistent challenges in mathematics education, such as low achievement, limited instructional capacity, and unequal access to quality teaching. AI-driven systems—including adaptive learning platforms, intelligent tutoring systems, and automated assessment tools—are widely promoted as mechanisms for personalizing instruction at scale and advancing educational equity. This study critically examines these claims by investigating how AI-mediated mathematics education is enacted in South Africa’s schools located in contexts of socio-economic disadvantage. Drawing on qualitative interviews with mathematics teachers working across diverse institutional settings, the study explores how AI tools are selected, implemented, and experienced in everyday classroom practice. The findings reveal that, rather than functioning as neutral or equalizing technologies, current AI systems often amplify existing inequalities by disproportionately benefiting students who already possess strong self-regulatory skills, institutional support, and prior mathematical confidence. Personalization without sustained pedagogical and relational support often leads to observed student isolation, while automation prioritizes efficiency and monitoring over conceptual understanding. By foregrounding mathematics teachers’ perspectives, the study demonstrates that AI transforms educational practice primarily through the automation of pedagogical decision-making, the redistribution of learning responsibility, and the reconfiguration of what counts as legitimate mathematical activity. It argues that meaningful educational transformation through AI requires treating equity as a foundational design and governance condition, with efficiency serving as an instrumental outcome rather than a proxy for pedagogical improvement.