This article reflects on the transformative nature of generative AI (GenAI) tools for teaching and teacher education, both reflecting on current innovation and consider future potentials and challenges. In that sense, we aim to position the field of education going forward with the implications of new technologies like GenAI for education and educational research. We argue the need for a dual-lens approach. First and foremost, practice and research should focus on the here-and-now, i.e. how to design powerful learning experiences for pre-service and in-service teachers for them to be productive, creative, critical, and ethical users. But there is also a need for a deeper, longer view--based on sociological and historical trends and patterns that will influence the socio-techno-cultural matrix within which education functions in the long term. We begin with a brief introduction to GenAI technologies. This is followed by an in-depth discussion of the fundamental nature of GenAI tools--their similarities and differences to prior technologies, and the implications for teacher education and research.