When ChatGPT launched in November 2022, it significantly boosted public interest in AI programs and their capabilities.
The chatbot – per its creator, OpenAI – is designed to interact in a conversational way, allowing it to answer follow-up questions, admit mistakes, challenge incorrect premises and reject inappropriate requests.
It’s quickly found its way into the workplace, as well as into education, garnering praise and worry in both. Teachers and other professionals in the education sector have shown trepidation about a plethora of complications that extend far beyond minor mistakes.
NPR
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Students of the Catholic University of Lyon use laptops to take notes in a classroom, on September 18, 2015 in Lyon, eastern France. AFP PHOTO / JEFF PACHOUD
Putting it into Practice
The Office of Educational Technology (OET), part of the U.S. Department of Education, has expressed concerns about the use of AI for educational purposes including data privacy and security risks, unwanted biases, academic misconduct, fairness of recommendations, and lesson quality.
Meanwhile, on an individual level, there has been worry among teachers that AI could replace them someday. Almost half of educators who responded to a 2023 Education Week Research Center survey said they fear AI would have a negative or very negative impact on teaching and learning in the next five years.
On the other hand, according to a recent poll from Common Sense Media, 77 percent of parents and 92 percent of students are interested in AI tools that have the potential to improve learning.
When used correctly, OET says, AI offers greater support for students with disabilities, multilingual learners, and other students who may benefit from increased adaptivity and personalization.
Most schools are in the earliest stages of exploring how to incorporate AI, but Ethan Mollick, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, is ahead of the curve.
As reported by NPR in January 2023, Mollick formally adopted an AI policy in his syllabus and requires students to use the tech. Students in his entrepreneurship and innovation classes are encouraged to use ChatGPT to help generate ideas for a class project, then further prompt the software with deeper questioning.
U.S. Department of State
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OpenAI also shares success stories of teachers using ChatGPT as a classroom resource on its website.
Geetha Venugopal, a high school computer science teacher at an American International School in India, uses AI tools to teach students about internet responsibility. She advises students to remember that the answers it gives may not be credible and accurate all the time. She encourages them to think critically about whether they should trust the answer, then confirm the information through other primary sources.
The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) urges caution in the implementation of AI in schools. Its website features a free professional learning series, titled “Artificial Intelligence 101 for Teachers,” that gives educators resources to prepare for these changes.
The purpose of the series, per ODE, is to unpack AI’s role in education, explore topics such as mitigating algorithmic bias and AI-driven personalized learning, and give educators a vision of how to ethically implement AI to enhance student outcomes.
CommonSenseCo.org
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Outside the Classroom
In May 2019, the U.S. adopted the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Recommendation of the Council on Artificial Intelligence, the first set of intergovernmental principles for AI.
According to the OECD website, the Recommendation promotes innovation and trust in AI by promoting responsible supervision of the technology while ensuring respect for human rights and democratic values. It outlines five principles for both AI actors and users to follow, including transparency, accountability, security and sustainable development.
Going even further than the U.S. Department of State, President Biden this past October issued an executive order aimed at establishing safety and security standards for AI. The order encompassed a wide range of communities, including the education world.
According to the fact sheet released with the order, one of the proposed actions is to shape AI’s potential to transform education by creating resources to support educators deploying AI-enabled tools, such as personalized tutoring in schools.
Looking Toward the Future
As with most technology, AI is expected to get smarter and faster over time. Common Sense Education predicts that it will be woven more and more into everyday life, in both positive and negative ways, and that people should exercise caution when using it.
Ava Huelskamp is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
