Hungary adds AI as compulsory subject in vocational schools, sparking backlash

Hungary’s move to introduce AI as a standalone subject for vocational ninth-graders is another data point in a global shift: governments no longer see AI literacy as optional. Framed as part of a long-term digital strategy, the policy aims to get ahead of the reality that students are already using systems like ChatGPT, forcing schools to rethink assessment and classroom practice. The backlash from teachers’ unions – worried about training, resources, and pace – mirrors debates elsewhere, but the direction of travel is clear.([xindb.com](https://www.xindb.com/static/content/XYLXW/2026-02-04/1468659539418832896.html))

For the race to AGI, this kind of curricular change matters because it shapes the baseline cognitive environment in which future systems will operate. A generation that grows up writing prompts, critiquing model outputs, and understanding limitations will interact very differently with increasingly general systems than one encountering them as adults. It may accelerate demand for more transparent, steerable models and for tools built with pedagogy in mind.

It also highlights a looming governance challenge: if AI becomes a formal school subject before many countries have robust AI safety or ethics frameworks in place, we risk normalizing powerful technologies faster than we teach critical thinking about them. That tension between “skills for the future” and “safeguards for the present” will only intensify as models become more capable and more embedded in assessment, tutoring, and content creation.