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This study critically examines how Swedish educators and professionals use rhetorical strategies in op-eds and opinion columns to frame debates about artificial intelligence (AI) in education. Adopting a social constructivist lens and critical rhetorical analysis, the research employs hermeneutic methods to interpret 30 debate articles and columns from Swedish educational journals published between 2023 and early 2025. These public discussions significantly shape attitudes among educators, influence public understanding, and inform educational policy decisions. By exposing how particular rhetorical techniques direct attention and determine which problems appear urgent, this study gives stakeholders prior insight into the distortions such framings can introduce, fostering more informed and balanced deliberation about AI’s potential role in education.

The analysis reveals recurring themes including cheating and assessment concerns, equity and access issues, misinformation and media literacy, policy needs, and tensions between technological efficiency and pedagogical values. Rhetorical framings construct AI in education alternately as a threat to be managed or an opportunity to be embraced, indirectly shaping which problems seem pressing and which solutions appear sensible. The study also indicates an ongoing renegotiation of what it means to be a teacher when artificial intelligence becomes part of the classroom. Importantly, none of the texts question the presence of human educators; they share the conviction that human agency remains essential, even though views differ regarding how this agency should be enacted. The varied arguments expose the Swedish educational community’s underlying values and priorities, and this study seeks to surface those values so they can be openly discussed.