TOMS RIVER – Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and the school needs to have a policy on how it is used, officials said.
Tiffany Lucey, district supervisor of educational technology, gave a presentation to the Board of Education who later unanimously voted to approve the policy.
“We really want to prepare our students for this fourth industrial revolution,” she said. “The human interaction is irreplaceable” but AI could support learners in new ways.
The goal of the policy is to teach how and when to use AI; to create a safe environment for its use; and to prepare students for the world that we are already in, officials said.
The superintendent or their designee would vet the AI program being used. There’s a formal approval process for teachers wanting to use it.
There is a lot of criticism of this relatively new tool, including issues relating to plagiarism, the AI creating false results, and the program collecting personal data of all users. These risks were discussed in creating the policy.
A large percentage of businesses are looking for graduates with AI skills, so this would be in service of the students’ future, Lucey said.
The default for classes is that no AI would be used, she said. However, teachers can choose to have AI assist students in some facets. The teachers need to be clear with students beforehand about their expectations. If AI is not to be used, then that needs to be said up front. If it can be used, the teacher needs to explain in what way it can be used.
There are already laws in place that govern technology and protect children in aspects such as privacy. The AI policy would fit in with those existing laws, Lucey said.
There are already established ways for students to acknowledge that AI was used, in a similar fashion to how books have to be attributed in a bibliography, and the district would adapt those standards.
Programs exist that can detect whether AI was used in a finished product, Lucey said. However, these programs are not as sophisticated as the newest AI.
Board member Paola Pascarella said that while she supports the policy, she wondered what would happen if the child’s homework involved AI, and they needed help but the parents didn’t understand how to use this new technology. “I’m old school pen and paper, but I can’t close the door” to this new tech.
Board President Ashley Lamb thanked Lucey for the presentation. She said that AI is everywhere so it’s better to understand how to use it and how not to use it.
