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INST 7.0
Principals must ensure staff and students in the Archdiocese of Baltimore use generative artificial intelligence (AI) in an ethical and responsible manner, following all policy guidelines listed below.
This policy will be reviewed regularly by the Department of Catholic Schools to ensure alignment with emerging technologies, educational best practices, and Catholic values. Revisions may be made as needed.
Purpose:
To provide clear expectations for staff and students on how to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) ethically and responsibly in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
To ensure generative artificial intelligence (AI) supports teaching and learning without replacing critical thinking, creativity, and/or effort.
To ensure the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is aligned with the teachings of the Catholic Church and our Catholic values.
To protect the privacy and safety of all staff and students by ensuring compliance with data privacy laws (e.g., COPPA and FERPA) and safeguarding personal information.
To help prevent potential exposure to misinformation, inappropriate content, and unauthorized generative AI use, ensuring that it is used responsibly and ethically.
Commentary/Procedural Points:
Introduction and Definitions
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to computer systems designed to perform tasks that usually require human intelligence, such as reasoning, problem solving, learning, and decision-making.
As stewards of creation, we are called to use AI to enhance teaching and learning while preserving human judgment and dignity, ethical responsibility, personal interaction, and the common good. AI should serve as a complement to traditional education, rather than a replacement.
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that creates new content, such as text, images, videos, or music, based on patterns it has learned from existing data. Examples include chatbots that write responses, or tools that generate pictures or videos.
Student Use
PreK–Grade 4 are not permitted to use generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Grades 5–8 are permitted to use COPPA-compliant, generative artificial intelligence (AI) for academic purposes.
Grades 9–12 are permitted to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) for academic purposes.
Privacy and Safety
Any user of generative artificial intelligence (AI) must protect student, parent, teacher, and school data by never sharing private information. This includes, but is not limited to student names, grades, SAP (Student Accommodation Plan) details, or any other personally identifiable information (PII).
Misinformation and Potential Bias
Staff and students must not assume that all AI-generated content is accurate or appropriate to share and must be fact-checked for misinformation and potential bias.
Staff Responsibilities
Staff must not assume that AI-generated content is always accurate, appropriate, or free from bias.
All AI-generated material must be reviewed and fact-checked for misinformation, bias, and alignment with curriculum expectations and instructional practices.
Staff must maintain meaningful human oversight when using AI-generated content, including lesson plans, assessments, feedback, emails, and other instructional materials.
Staff may not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to create deceptive, harmful, or misleading images, audio, video, or representations of another person.
AI Use in Grading and Feedback
Teachers in Grades 5-8 may use AI tools to support the drafting of feedback; however, final evaluation, grading decisions, and feedback must be determined and carefully reviewed by the teacher. Teachers must not rely solely on AI-generated grading or feedback and must not input personally identifiable student information into AI systems.
Before Teachers Use AI with Students
Schools must communicate expectations for student use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to parents/guardians through the Parent/Student Handbook and/or other communication methods.
Principals must ensure teachers provide students (Grades 5-8) with explicit instruction on the following topics before generative artificial intelligence (AI) is used in the classroom for academic purposes:
ethical and responsible generative AI use;
the school’s discipline philosophy and procedures for not adhering to the policy;
the consequences and dangers of accessing unauthorized chatbots, or creating content that misrepresents, harms, or negatively impacts others;
how to safely use generative AI tools without sharing personally identifiable information (PII);
how and when generative AI can be used in the classroom;
how to follow proper citation protocols when referencing generative AI used in their work. Students must disclose the use of generative AI in their work in a manner directed by the teacher (e.g., a brief statement describing how AI was used).
Only COPPA-compliant tools may be used with students under age 13. Schools must verify that any AI or digital platform used with students complies with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which safeguards student data and requires parental consent for certain forms of information collection.
Students must not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to create deceptive, harmful, or misleading images, audio, video, or representations of another person.
Schools should ensure the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) supports equitable access to learning and does not disadvantage students who may have limited access to technology.
All Archdiocesan schools must have an Academic Integrity Policy that includes consequences for cheating and plagiarism (including work that used generative artificial intelligence to plagiarize).
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