The use of Artificial Intelligence has grown exponentially over the past couple of years in school and in work industries. Kate Heineman and Scott Jensen are the founders of the new AI Committee. The reasoning behind the forming of the committee is to discuss the impact AI has on education and how to use it safely and ethically.
“I think it is important that we get a group together to talk about the positives and negatives and what steps we need to take to work with AI in the future,” Jensen said.
Heineman and Jensen have been working with Fremont Public Schools for over ten years. They are in charge of handling important jobs in the district and recently decided to form the AI committee, making them the founders of the next major project for better education.
“What it looks like today is not what it’s gonna look like tomorrow,” Heineman said.
During the interview, the subject of having both pros and cons when it comes to using newer technology was briefly discussed. However, learning to use this technology ethically for future projects is of huge importance.
“There’s going to be both concerns and positives to anything we do,” Heineman said. “So, learning to become responsible consumers of whatever platforms we have, and whatever information we have is critical in everything that we do.”
With the concern of responsibility comes the concern of safety. The school district has banned the globally used app TikTok and other popular social media apps. So the question is, why hasn’t the district banned apps like Chat GPT, Google AI or other similar apps?
“Generally speaking, all the websites we have have to be compliant with all state and federal guidelines for that safety purpose. There are specific guidelines that we as public schools have to follow,” Jensen said. “If it can be a tool, how do we use that tool in the best way possible and provide privacy to our students and our district?”
Schools have always put out the message that our social lives and private lives should not be mixed, but how do you make sure that there is a line between the two without the help of adult supervision? With the exception of some students, it appears to be a difficult thing to ask for from others.
“Scott and I think it’s also very much about the user. So each of us are going to use it differently,” Heineman said. “Some people will use it as a crutch and it will become limiting to them, but that will be a choice they make. Others will use it as a tool to maybe further explore something.”
This year’s English classes have been more written-based, which is showcasing how prominent AI is in some students’ ability to write. There have already been multiple instances where students have turned in essays that were completely written by AI in Blake Hughes’ class. This shows that the use of technology is simply based on the person in front of the screen.
“I think some people make the assumption that AI just does everything for you. There’s still some work involved and there’s going to have to be,” Heinemen said. “Look at what that process is. So even with the new generative AI, they’re still going to be processed and all that, we’re going to have to learn to be good consumers. I don’t think we can take that for granted.”
Both Scott Jensen and Kate Heinemen are working exceptionally hard to make this AI Committee work well for the benefit of the schools. The outcome of this project seems to be in good hands, and the hope for this project to work is high.
