Marco James' Blogger: TeachAI.org, a New Organization to Talk about AI in the Classroom

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

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These conversations need to happen. An organization called TeachAI.org says it is going to facilitate those conversations. With ISTE, Digital Promise, OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon, the World Economic Forum and many more, these organizations state they are coming together to create policy recommendations, revise the K-12 CS Framework to include AI teaching with AI, and engage diverse stakeholders. If you are interested in this topic, you can sign up to participate or get updates.

Hoping Everyone Can Be Included

It is great that these organizations are getting together. I would love to see Apple and Google join as well so there can be meaningful conversations between all of the industry leaders. That said, getting such large organizations to work together can be very difficult.

Including Real Classroom Teachers, Administrators, and Parents, and an Agile Curriculum is Considered

I also hope that classroom teachers and school administrators are included. Additionally, some room for curricular agility needs to be included; otherwise, you end up with standards that are outdated.

Respect for Relationships

Additionally, I hope that respect for the relationship between teacher and student and the partnership between teachers and parents are respected and that AI can be a tool to work in conjunction with parents and teachers.

Student Protections: HIPPA and Reporting Requirements

For example, if AI is “working with” students, it should be under the same HIPPA requirements and have mandatory reporting requirements, just like educators and the tools we use do now. If any tool provides tutoring (like SnapAI, which I talked about yesterday with great concern), then it should also be under these requirements.

Refusing to “Experiment” on Kids

We need to wake up and stop experimenting on this generation. We need to protect their privacy and thoughts, a season of being able to make mistakes and receive wise advice in the critical formative years. We need to keep them safe — something we’ve not done very well.

Children Are Still Children

I know AI is new, but parenting and teaching are not. Students have developmental stages, common needs, and immaturity, along with a curiosity that can lead to harming their own innocence if they are not protected. They are vulnerable.

Just as we would never leave a child in the cold to fend for itself, we also should immediately begin guiding children and limiting access to things that harm them, like many social media sites and now the Chatbots that accompany them.

Children Are Our Treasure

Our children are our greatest treasure. It is time we wake up and see what is happening — really happening in their lives. We need conversations with them. We need to listen to them. We need to promote face-to-face relationships and have fun together. We can use AI, but we should keep big tech from using us through AI.

We need to approach things with intentionality. As I said in yesterday’s post, my Dad always said, “You don’t gamble with what you cannot afford to lose.”

We Need to Keep Children Safe

Conversations need to happen quickly; we need safety measures put in place to protect our children. If we talk about what we should do with AI without talking bout what we should NOT do, we will be missing out and making mistakes.

For example, an organization shouldn’t be able to roll out an untested AI tool like SnapAI to kids aged 13-17 without parental consent and without reporting requirements and privacy protection, as well as prior testing on adults.

Focus on the Children Right In Front of Us While We Wait

Instead, right now, we’re just letting big tech make the decisions. It sounds like parents and teachers need to step up and put protections in place for those we care about because we cannot wait for the government and tech companies to do the right thing for us.

And that, my friends, is where we are. Like the ancients who each rebuilt the wall in front of their home, we each have students, children, grandchildren, and teenagers within our area of influence. Until things make more sense “out there,” — we can all look “in here” and focus on those in front of us.

We’ve been having conversations with kids about SnapChat AI and helping children understand, but it will take more than this.

Each of us must be committed to being part of the conversation in our homes, schools, cities, churches, civic groups, and organizations.

Human Intelligence is absolutely necessary if we’re going to use Artificial Intelligence wisely.

AI without HI is a menace. HI without AI is limited. But true HI and AI can combine in a multiplying effect to help positive changes happen if we wisely move forward.