The future of AI in school

Artificial intelligence is quickly gaining traction in education. Khan Academy recently unveiled their upcoming GPT-4-powered AI tutor Khanmingo, designed to help students understand complex concepts in a more personalized way. This integration of GPT in education is starting to show the world the unique educational possibilities of AI.

Park has already taken a step toward banning the general use of artificial intelligence in schoolwork by blocking the OpenAI website on the school WiFi, but teachers and students alike are questioning if this is the right route to take.

Lindeman said he hopes for Park to integrate AI into its education in the future, rather than banning the technology as a whole.

“I hope that Park sees the benefits in it, because there are reasonable uses for it and ways that are good to use,” Lindeman said. “I would really hate to see them just do a blanket ban and say there is no acceptable use for this at all, because there are uses where it is a great tool.”

According to Dongyeop Kang, Department of Computer Science & Engineering professor at the University of Minnesota, education has to fundamentally change if teachers want to make sure students aren’t using AI to cheat.

”You may see even a better version of ChatGPT pretty soon in a couple of months,” Kang said. “Then how are we going to stop students from using these tools? Education as a whole will also have to change at the same time as we start to see these new technologies as useful tools rather than, ‘Oh, this is cheating.’ The world is changing. Our education system should also be changing accordingly.”

Hanson said AI can be very helpful long-term for students and teachers alike, but teachers must take initiative to educate students on the ethical and practical implications of relying too heavily on AI.

“Teachers need to embrace it and learn what it can do for students, but also what it can do for teachers,” Hanson said. “I am in this Facebook group about AI for teachers and people are actually using it in a useful way. It could be incorporated better, so in the long run, teachers need to learn more about it. Students need to learn that it’s not a replacement for doing their work.”

According to Kang, the decision to use AI-generated content in schoolwork will ultimately be an ethical one made by the students. He said that students ultimately should rely less on AI for their schoolwork.

“Maybe AI can do a better job than you,” Kang said. “What’s the purpose of education? You have to learn how to produce your own thoughts and critical thinking skills, and if you don’t learn these skills in high school, you’re going to be useless.” 

Park’s assistant principal Alyssa Gardner said Park has no clear plans to incorporate AI into education yet.

“There’s ways to integrate it,” Gardner said. “But again, it’s so new to us, we really haven’t had the time to process that with staff and figure out what it looks like.”