In February 2022, Roberto Mata filed a complaint against the airline Avianca due to an alleged knee injury caused by a passing serving cart. The airline submitted a motion to dismiss, causing Mata’s attorney to prepare an opposition brief. However, they faced a challenge. While they could have paid to extend the subscription to their legal research service to find supporting precedent, they instead used ChatGPT, mistaking it for a search engine. Unbeknownst to the lawyers, the AI tool fabricated multiple cases; when the court was unable to locate the referenced cases, the attorneys were sanctioned and the entire case was dismissed. While this story is ridiculous, it underlines the prevalence of Artificial Intelligence in our everyday lives as well as the importance of human verification. As AI tools become more commonplace in American classrooms, educators and students must not lose sight of this.
Artificial Intelligence is a man-made creation that imitates human intelligence. In the classroom, students and educators may encounter various forms of AI. Some tools, such as Grammarly, are assistive, fixing writing mistakes or enhancing readability. Others, like Google Gemini, are extractive, answering questions by compiling data from multiple sources. AI aids such as ChatGPT are more generative, carrying out complete tasks or creating full narratives by mimicking human thought. The latter two are the most concerning for the future of education.
According to the Office of Educational Technology, “AI can be defined as automation based on associations.” Its effectiveness is attributed to the model’s ability to scan through copious amounts of data and summarize it succinctly. However, erroneous information and bias are rife online. These inaccuracies can be amplified, reinforcing stereotypes and discrimination, if AI algorithms are not tuned appropriately. Researchers at MIT gave examples of this, noting that a biased language model associated certain occupations, like “secretary”, with women, and others, like “lawyer”, with men. The article goes on to report, “Concerning emotions, a language model thinks that ‘anxious’, ‘depressed’, and ‘devastated’ are feminine.” If these biases are left unchecked, students may view them as factual.
As AI is incorporated into academic environments, it is the educators’ responsibility to ensure students do not become dependent on it. It is impossible to carry out discussions or to express genuine opinions when relying solely on AI. As stated by the U.S. Department of Education, teachers are “well-aware of ‘teachable moments’ and pedagogical strategies that a human teacher can address but are undetected or misunderstood by AI models.” Teaching requires a human component that is lacking in artificial tools.
The biggest challenge for teachers and students is figuring out how to use AI productively. For kids today, it is quite easy to abuse these tools by submitting artificially generated work void of creativity or human thought. Teachers attempt to combat this by running assignments through AI detectors. Although these systems can work, they can also flag words that are, in fact, original. As mentioned by the University of San Diego, non-native speakers and neurodivergent students are more likely to be flagged for AI because they use repeated words and phrases. False negatives also occur because AI tools use evasive language to avoid being caught.
Despite problems, Artificial Intelligence can be helpful for different types of students. Teachers may be less familiar with tailored learning approaches needed to assist non-native English speakers, neurodivergent learners, and children with disabilities. With the help of AI, they can have access to a myriad of compatible tools. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign published an article mentioning this advantage, stating, “tools that offer text-to-speech, visual recognition, speech recognition, and more can help teachers adapt resources so that all students have an equal learning opportunity.” This can make learning accessible and available to more people and allows differently-abled students to feel supported.
Classroom discussions with high levels of student interaction are the best way for a student to be introduced to new concepts. However, students’ learning may be inhibited if they fear judgment from their peers or teachers when voicing their thoughts. As stated in Stanford University HAI’s article, “Interfaces that leverage AI can offer constructive feedback that does not carry the same stakes or cause the same self-consciousness as a human’s response….With AI, a real-time agent can provide support and feedback, and learners are able to try different tactics”. AI allows students to be vulnerable in their learning without the fear of being wrong. It gives students the freedom to explore and embrace their natural curiosity.
Similar to a calculator, Artificial Intelligence should enhance the mastery of skills. In the future, if AI is used responsibly, it will encourage in-depth research, critical thinking and, hopefully, more accessible information for all students.
