AI in the Classroom
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the study of how to create computers that can think and act like humans. It involves using computers to perform tasks that require human-like intelligence, such as learning, problem-solving, and decision-making. As AI advances, it will have major impacts on teaching and learning.
This page shares resources and key decisions related to the Chicopee Public Schools response to developing artificial intelligence tools.
In late November 2022, a company called OpenAI made available a tool called ChatGPT, which allows anyone with an email address to interact with an AI bot for free. When asked what the bot does for users, it replied: "As an AI assistant, I am designed to help answer questions, provide information, and assist with a wide range of tasks. I can understand and respond to natural language input and am able to engage in conversation with users in order to provide the information or assistance they need. I was trained on a large dataset of text, which allows me to understand the context and meaning of the words and phrases that I encounter. I can use this understanding to provide informative and helpful responses to user queries, and I am constantly learning and improving my performance as I interact with more users."
What are the academic implications?
Positives
There are many potential positive uses of AI in the classroom and academic setting. Here are a few examples:
Automatic grading: AI can be used to grade written assignments, allowing teachers to spend more time providing feedback and support to students rather than spending time grading papers.
Language translation: AI can be used to translate texts or lectures into different languages, making it easier for non-native speakers to understand and participate in class.
Research assistance: AI can be used to help students find and analyze relevant research and data for their assignments, freeing up more time for them to focus on other aspects of their work.
Tutoring: AI can be used to provide personalized tutoring support to students, helping them to better understand difficult concepts and material. For example, a student could ask ChatGPT to "explain stoichiometry to me at a very basic level."
Overall, AI has the potential to enhance the learning experience for students by providing more tailored and efficient support, especially after school hours.
Negatives
There are many potential negative uses of AI in the classroom and academic setting. Here are a few examples:
Academic dishonesty: AI tools such as essay generators or cheat sheets could potentially be used by students to cheat on assignments or exams. It is important to have safeguards in place to prevent academic dishonesty and to educate students about the importance of academic integrity.
Bias in training data: If the data used to train AI algorithms and models is biased, this bias can be reflected in the output and decisions of the AI. It is important to ensure that the data used to train AI is representative and diverse in order to minimize the risk of bias.
Loss of human interaction: One concern is that the use of AI could lead to a reduction in personal interaction between students and teachers. While AI can provide support and guidance, it cannot replicate the benefits of face-to-face interaction and the personal touch that a human teacher can provide. In other words, CPS educators > ChatGPT. 😊
Limited understanding: AI algorithms and models can only understand and interpret the data and information that they have been trained on. This means that they may not be able to fully understand the nuances and complexities of certain subjects, or be able to adapt to new situations or scenarios.
Privacy concerns: There may be concerns about the collection and use of student data when using AI in the classroom. It is important to ensure that student data is protected and that privacy is respected.
Overall, while AI has the potential to enhance the learning experience, it is important to carefully consider the potential negative aspects and to use the technology in a way that is responsible and beneficial to students.
What is the district doing? What can I do?
Blocked on Student Chromebooks
Due to the developing nature of the ChatGPT tool and concerns over academic dishonesty and student data privacy, IT has blocked student access to the OpenAI website from district Chromebooks. However, it is of course still possible for students to access and utilize ChatGPT from personal devices.
DraftBack Extension
To ease some concerns about students using ChatGPT to generate essays or writing samples, we encourage teachers to add the free DraftBack extension, which is a third-party tool that can be added to your Google Chrome browser to play back the revision history of any Google Doc you can edit. It's like going back in time to look over your student's shoulder as they write.
AI Detectors (These Are Not Reliable)
In our experience testing a few different tools that claim to reliably detect AI-generated content, we find them to be pretty unreliable. However, here are two that have been mentioned lately. As more are announced, we will update this space.
Hugging Face GPT-2 Detector
Note: this is for an outdated version of ChatGPT, so the results from our team testing this tool were very unreliable.GPTZero
Note: this is an app built by a college student that claims to detect AI-generated text. At the moment, it is compiling a waitlist. We cannot evaluate its effectiveness yet.
