Learning and AI

A good friend of mine asked me to write a column on what I thought of artificial intelligence (AI), schools, and the future.

Now I’m the first to admit I’m not an authority on AI, so I had to do a bit of research to find out more about the topic.

Just so happens Alyson Klein, an EducationWeek online reporter, wrote an article last week titled “AI Literacy, Explained.” I found the information helpful to me, and I hope it’s helpful to you and my friend.

Klein writes,

“K-12 students have grown up in a world where artificial intelligence informs what their families buy at the grocery store, how scientists track the spread of diseases, and even how the photo filters work on their favorite social media apps.”

“But the technology was largely invisible to them – and their teacher – until a new version of ChatGPT burst onto the educational scene late last year. The tool can spit out an essay on Shakespeare, a detective novel, or a legal brief that appears remarkably like something a human has labored over. It can also do computer coding.”

“The technology poured accelerant on a conversation already underway: Now that AI is shaping nearly every aspect of our lives and is expected to transform fields from medicine to agriculture to policing, what do students need to understand about AI to be prepared for the world of work? To be a smart consumer and a responsible citizen?”

“’The AI genie is out of the bottle,’ said Cynthia Breazeal, a professor of media arts and sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ‘It’s not just in the realm of computer science and coding. It is affecting all aspects of society. It’s the machine under everything. It’s critical for all students to have AI literacy if they are going to be using computers, or really, almost any type of technology’ in their daily lives.”

“AI literacy is something that every student needs exposure to – not just those who are planning on a career in computer science, experts argue.”

“Here’s how to begin developing AI literacy, according to experts and educators:”

“Why it’s vital to have a basic understanding of how AI works – Grasping the technical aspects of AI – how the technology perceives the world, how it collects and processes data, and how those data can inform decisions and recommendations – can help temper the oftentimes inaccurate perception that AI is an all-knowing, infallible force, experts say.”

“Artificial intelligence technologies replicate human-like intelligence by training machines and computer systems to do tasks that simulate some of what the human brain can do. It relies on systems that can actually learn, usually by analyzing vast quantities of data and searching out new patterns and relationships. These systems can actually improve over time, becoming more complex and accurate as they take in more information.”

“But all students must grasp that the decisions that AI makes – whether it’s to recommend a particular pair of boots to an Amazon customer or to flag a job applicant as a promising prospect for an employer – aren’t driven by the same kind of nuanced and creative reasoning a human can perform.”

“…students want to know more about AI. More than nine in 10 teens say they would be interested in learning in high school about how to work with artificial intelligence, according to a survey by the nonprofit Junior Achievement with the marketing and data firm Big Village, conducted between February and March of this year.”

“Give students hands-on opportunities to understand how the technology works – One hands-on lesson for more advanced students: Give them a flawed historical dataset on which to train an AI system… For instance, students could create a program that gives suggested salary ranges for a company’s employees.”

“If that program is informed using data in which women are paid less than men for doing the same job, the technology will probably propose lower salaries for female employees than for male workers. But if women are at salary parity with men in the dataset, the results will be more equitable.”

“’Great conversations erupt,’ said Bryan Cox, computer science specialist at the Georgia department of education. ‘And we’ll talk to the students about how the computer is making those same determinations’ based on the viewpoints of the majority of people it interacts with. And those determinations are often faulty ones.’”

“Discuss and analyze ethical questions about the technology – Once students are aware that humans – and not some sentient robot – are behind how these tools analyze and communicate, they can think about them in a broader context.”

“And that raises all kinds of important and interesting ethical issues. In Georgia’s middle school AI course, for instance, students might consider a case of passengers going to sleep in the backseat of a self-driving car while it continues along the road.”

“How to interact effectively with AI – Students will need to practice using AI tools to get information, the same way previous generations learned the card-catalog system to navigate the library.”

“ChatGPT, for instance, is deeply influenced by the prompt a user gives it, said Torrey Trust, an associate professor of learning technology in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.”

“For instance, a student could tell the tool to ‘write about the American Revolution.’ It’s gonna give a very textbook response. And then you could say, ‘well, write about 15 women who shaped the American Revolution or draw connections between 15 women today and the American Revolution,’ she said. ‘The way you prompt the tool completely changes the output and your thinking and learning.’”

“Let students know that AI skills are not just for computer science experts – Students need to be exposed to how AI is being used in the workforce today and how they might use the technology in their future careers, even if they don’t go into a computer science field.”

“Students – particularly those from communities that are underrepresented in the AI field – need to understand that by getting in on the ground floor of this technology, they can help ensure that it works better.”

To summarize:

Have a basic understanding of how AI works.

Give students hands-on opportunities to understand how the technology works.

Discuss and analyze ethical questions about the technology.

Know how to interact effectively with AI, and

Let students know that AI skills are not just for computer science experts.

Now, I know my friend, and what he is thinking right now is “But Scott, you haven’t answered my question. What do you think is going to happen between AI and our public schools?”

So, here’s my answer:

Public schools that are trying to ignore AI or, even worse, trying to prevent it from coming into their classrooms are just prolonging the inevitable. AI, like calculators and cell phones are here to stay. Public schools better figure out how to work with the technology instead of banning it like some districts are currently doing.

Learning expectations are probably going to have to change. Instead of assigning an essay topic and expecting each student to respond to the prompt in their own original way, the exercise of writing, and other skill-building activities, will become way more interactive between the young learner and the technology they choose to use.

Because of this new type of interaction, we need to get rid of our 20^th century definition of plagiarism and cheating. We will need to engage with the technology, since that same technology will probably replace many of our traditional classroom teachers moving forward.

We need to keep in mind “learner equity” when it comes to accessing AI. None of this will be beneficial unless all young learners are given the opportunity to work with new technologies.

And most of all, we all need to relax. Young learners will figure out how to best learn with the technology available to them. If schools want to remain relevant, they will help young learners figure it out. But if the traditional system balks, then the new learning relationship might be between the young learner, their learning coach, and the new technologies.

Besides, if major league baseball is already using a computer to call balls and strikes, then why would we think public schools could ignore something like artificial intelligence.

Hope this helps, my friend.

Friday News Roundup tomorrow. SVB