What is AI and how does it work?

A very surprising fact is that the first concept of Artificial Intelligence came about decades ago. AI is a system that can take in data and respond to a task that would usually be performed by a human. AI can solve and respond to problems and learn to become more reliable the more it is used. Generally, in today’s society when people think of artificial intelligence they think of digital device voices that give students and adults answers to their questions in their everyday life; like Siri and Alexa. AI has now become a tool in creating written works. An example of this is a book “written” by AI about my dad by just filling out an information sheet. Due to its large amount of power, educators are faced with the task of deciding what to do now that students are using it to help them with their homework. Deciding whether or not it is a problem or not has been a controversial statement for the past year when ChatGPT was released(Harvard). School administrations have to decide how they are going to handle  AI as it has grown to be a part of our everyday lives. AI is a tool that educators should consider how it would offer engagement, new understandings, and endless information.

It exists, so how do we use it best?

In the article “Embracing Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom” one of the main points is that educators need to realize that it would be harder to try to rid schools totally of AI than it would be to use it to help them. That it is important to come to the realization that this is a part of our new reality and we need to adapt to it. More importantly, students have already started to experiment with the technology, but what they need from their teachers is to direct them on the right way to use this resource responsibly. As a student I know first-hand that there is a way to use it responsibly. It can help with homework problems like a math question you don’t know how to do. Whether or not you agree with students using the program, people have to realize that it isn’t going to go away easily. To ignore this new technology would be making the wrong decision when it has endless possibilities of use. 

How are schools across the country using AI?

With AI being a fast growing program, and a large group of the student population using it in their everyday lives, many different states have responded in different ways when dealing with this “problem”. According to the article “The Current State of Artificial Intelligence in Education”, only 16 of 50 states have offered assistance to their students from the state department of education. This is conveying to readers that barely any states have addressed this issue in a rational way. These 16 states are the only ones who are addressing the root problem instead of just brushing it to the side. Schools may argue that it enables students to cheat, but this isn’t completely true. AI can personalize learning in a way that teachers don’t always have the ability to do(Iowa College of Education). It can better shape the topic being learned to better fit the student. Also AI provides students with access to more resources that allow them to complete their work more efficiently. Some examples of these resources are Canva Magic Write, Quizizz, and Quizlet (Illinois College of Education). Both Quizizz and Quizlet have programs that use AI to help students come up with their own quiz or practice test that has all the information that they need to know for an upcoming test. In other words it can take a complex topic and create ways to think about it in a simpler way. These are just a few ways it can be used as a powerful substantial program.

What’s important to notice

Times have changed and now artificial intelligence is in the picture. Students have already seen how valuable this source can be by offering them the information or skills they need to know in the matter of seconds. Colleges like Iowa and Illinois have made it known that they believe AI to be a great resource and to use it in education. Even Ivy League schools like Harvard have written about how it can enhance learning to make it more accessible for every student because as teachers know not everyone learns in the same way. I’m in no way saying that it should be used to cheat on an exam or get out of work easily, but instead use it to discover a simpler way to learn about a topic found hard to cover during class. If you’re stuck on a math question and have no idea on how to solve it and use AI to help learn how to solve it, that is a responsible way to use it. To be able to see how AI solved it and got to the right answer could help any student be able to come to the same conclusion. Therefore schools should consider using AI as a resource instead as something to reprimand students about. AI is a valuable tool that offers engagement, new understandings, and endless information.