Since the emergence of generative AI tools in learning environments, educators have sought guidance for safe and ethical use of AI in education. The recent Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, issued on October 30, 2023, provides essential steps to ensure the responsible and safe development, deployment, and use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems and tools. Provides guidance. .
Educators and school leaders in pre-K-12 educational settings continue to clearly and consistently identify opportunities and challenges for AI systems and tools to ensure students and educators benefit from the recommendations and actions outlined in the Executive Order (EO). I'm trying. EO follows eight principles and priorities (A to H of EO), two of which we will focus here.
- AI policies must be consistent with promoting equity and civil rights.
- The interests of Americans who increasingly use, interact with, and purchase AI and AI-enabled products in their daily lives must be protected.
The priority is especially important in PreK-12 learning environments, where students are often new to AI systems and tools, learning how to use them, and potentially becoming AI creators. As we know, education is a civil right, and addressing the digital equity gap requires powerful learning opportunities driven by technology, including a nuanced understanding of when and how to use AI-enabled products.
The dangers of equating AI with humans
Protecting our communities requires taking into account the biases inherent in AI systems, and much has already been written and shared on this topic. EO highlights important points for educational leaders to remember. AI creates content based on what already exists.. AI systems use both machine-based and human-based inputs to make predictions and generate content. The data used by AI systems favors historical data and contains inherent biases in that data. Moreover, recent research has shown that human users can unconsciously absorb automated biases in AI systems and tools, and that these biases can persist even after they stop using the AI programs. This means that even limited interactions with AI tools can have lasting effects. In addition to considering the bias, data privacy, and age restrictions they are already considering when adopting AI tools, it is important for education leaders to prioritize AI literacy for their educators, students, and communities.
But our concerns go beyond prejudice. We want to warn against anthropomorphizing AI. AI is not human, and human-related terms should not be used to refer to these systems and tools. Because this can lead to misunderstandings that are detrimental not only to students but also to the community. It is important to remember that AI systems are just computers and errors occur. Therefore, we believe that the terms are: hallucination should be replaced with mistake. Additionally, the definition of generative AI (gen AI) in EO is as follows: The output of these models as synthetic content.. This is important because it helps reinforce the idea that AI is a tool that uses existing data to make predictions or create content. In other words, it creates the best approximation, or guess, based on what humans have already created.
AI doesn't create new ideas. Understanding and accepting this will help us avoid the anthropomorphism of AI systems and tools that is common in educational settings. It is important for learners and educators to remember that AI is a tool and should therefore be referred to as “it” rather than “she,” “him,” or “they.” Educators should remember that while AI may sometimes exhibit human-like characteristics, such as the ability to speak out or answer questions, it is simply a tool that humans create and use to complement uniquely human abilities.
AI that complements unique human abilities
Nonetheless, AI is a sophisticated tool and, when used appropriately, can complement human capabilities. The idea of using technological systems to complement or augment human capabilities is not new and is called intelligence augmentation (IA). IA focuses on the importance of keeping humans in flow as these tools are developed and used in learning environments. For example, many educators are excited about the potential AI tools have for enabling and expanding personalized and differentiated learning for all learners. Well-designed AI tools increase A teacher's ability to provide appropriate and timely feedback to students. This can lead to strengthening meaningful connections between teachers and students. By focusing educators' ability to care for students as human beings, we can promote equity and civil rights.
We believe that technology can be most valuable to teaching and learning when it complements human capabilities by centering the professional judgment of educators and the voices of learners. It is important to remember that as much as AI systems and tools can support teaching and learning, human judgment will always be needed. Human judgment will enable us to follow EO guidelines, including the need for schools to ensure that AI policies are consistent with advancing equity and civil rights and that the interests of Americans are protected.
Note: This post was not generated by AI but was written by a human author.