Production – July 26, 2023, Karlsruhe, Baden-Wurttemberg: High school students sit in front of the school. [+] Use your laptop and use AI tools. The class at Lessing Gymnasium used artificial intelligence to work through Büchner’s play fragment “Woyzeck.” Students worked with the AI on text-related tasks. Photo: Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa (Photo by Philipp von Ditfurth/picture Alliance via Getty Images)
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“I’m so glad I took the writing class!”
On May 1, 2024, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reflected on his undergraduate days at Stanford University, where he explored courses outside of computer science, such as creative writing. At Harvard Business School, Mr. Altman encouraged his students to “be relentlessly resourceful.”
Sarcasm? Mr. Altman lectures at some of the world’s top universities and leads the company behind ChatGPT, an AI tool that writes the most “threatening” texts in schools.
A high school in Massachusetts was recently sued by parents for disciplining students who used AI to create notes and summaries for social studies papers.
As AI is hailed as an innovation in some environments and condemned as plagiarism in others, how should schools and educators adapt?
Schools need to clarify AI guidelines
The biggest challenge facing schools today is ambiguity. As AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot become more common, school districts as well as private schools need to establish clear and transparent policies regarding the use of AI.
Academic integrity guidelines need a thorough update to clearly define the difference between plagiarism and the ethical use of AI. Without clarity, students, parents, and teachers are left confused and frustrated.
Superintendents and administrators need to be at the forefront of discussions on this issue and establish a shared understanding of the role of AI in the classroom. If your school is not ready to enact a comprehensive policy, a phased approach is needed that gradually introduces guidelines tailored to both classroom needs and broader educational goals.
However, this change cannot be stopped at the management level.
Teachers should ensure that classroom expectations reflect school policy and communicate them to students before each assignment. Consistency in school and classroom policies is key to preventing confusion.
It’s time to make AI the baseline for education
Sal Khan, founder of the nonprofit organization Khan Academy, recently wrote a book called Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education (and Why That’s a Good Thing). Khan claimed that AI tutors like Khanmigo can improve students’ learning and even writing skills. Ethically developed and implemented, AI can teach students clear thesis writing and build effective outlines. AI can provide real-time feedback on writing, allowing students to benefit as if they were working with a writing coach.
PALO ALTO, CA – MARCH 31: (L-R) Students Josephine Chan, Sahil S., Arohi Brahmachari, Iris Wang… [+] Arjan works through a classroom exercise using Khanmigo, an AI-powered guide developed by Khan Academy, during a math and science class at Khan Lab School on Friday, March 31, 2023 in Palo Alto, California. Tyagi and Anai Sharma (Photo by Constanza Hevia H. for The Washington Post, via Getty Images)
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AI is transforming industries and the workforce, helping professionals with writing, programming, and marketing tasks. AI tools are being integrated into industries such as finance, manufacturing, e-commerce, and IT to improve productivity. Just as it makes no sense to ban the use of the internet in schools, it makes no sense to protect students from AI tools that are critical to their careers and future success.
Leading AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot are already integrated into educational environments. For example, OpenAI brought ChatGPT EDU to universities.
Elite educational institutions across the country, including Harvard University, have already adopted the service. Princeton University has made Microsoft Copilot available to faculty and students.
High schools should follow the example of universities and adapt to this technology.
Banning AI in schools is not only impractical, but counterproductive. For subjects where teachers don’t want to use AI, they can simply administer the test in a technology-free environment.
Redesign assignments and adjust evaluation criteria
Rather than viewing AI as a threat, educators should treat it like an assistant, just like calculators, the internet, educational apps, and YouTube videos.
While AI can provide organized information and insights, it does not eliminate the need for thoughtful work when teachers redesign requirements.
By allowing students to use AI as a baseline, schools can raise the bar for assessment. Creativity and originality still stand out, and anything that goes beyond AI-generated content will earn higher grades.
AI can be leveraged to improve STEM education in K-12 schools. Machine learning and other technologies can be taught in conjunction with coding and robotics, allowing middle and high schools to better prepare students for college and the workforce.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 9: Students monitor a robot during a rescue course in New South Wales in 2007. [+] The RoboCup Junior Australian State Tournament was held on August 9, 2007 at the University of New South Wales Roundhouse in Kensington, Sydney, Australia. RoboCup Junior Australia is a national robotics competition for schools, where student-developed robots compete in dance, rescue and soccer events. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
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What we learn, how we learn, and how we evaluate learning outcomes will also need to adapt.
Teachers can request students to incorporate AI while presenting their ideas. This might mean teaching students to use AI as a starting point and then promoting higher quality analysis and unique perspectives. Students may be asked to discuss AI perspectives, which develops critical thinking skills.
Train students to use AI critically
Part of incorporating AI into education includes teaching students to use AI carefully and responsibly. The Young Data Scientists League, a nonprofit organization focused on empowering middle and high school students to use data science to create public goods, is launching a new project on AI ethics. Its executive director and AI researcher Evan See argues that students can participate in projects such as sociotechnical audits of AI models to make these systems more just.
In a recent study, Shih and Faymarie Vassell, a postdoctoral researcher at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, showed that racial and gender bias exists in large-scale language models and multimodal AI systems.
Therefore, using AI without critically evaluating the fairness and accuracy of the generated content and training datasets risks perpetuating bias and misleading learners.
Students should be given the opportunity to critique stereotypes and discriminatory narratives in AI-generated content. Their feedback should be provided to the companies developing these AI models.
Proactively citing AI-generated material should also become standard practice. Just as students are taught to cite books, magazine articles, websites, and databases, they should also learn to cite AI tools using formats such as MLA and APA. Both associations have published specific guidelines on how to cite AI-generated material.
Educators need training too
Finally, educators themselves need support.
AI cannot be demonized or ignored. AI is becoming as popular as internet search. Teachers need training to understand how AI works and how to carefully incorporate it into the teaching and learning process.
Like any tool, its value is determined by how you use it. We don’t think looking up information online is cheating, but why is using AI for research any different?
AI is reshaping education, and it’s time for schools and educators to adapt. Rather than resisting this change, we need to teach students to use AI responsibly.
There is a need to reconsider students’ assignments, learning goals, and evaluation criteria for their work. Doing so will ensure that students not only acquire new knowledge and skills, but are also better prepared to foster ethics-embedded AI in the future.
