Dear School Boards,
AI is a very powerful tool that opens access to unlimited information. From an educational standpoint, it may look like just another way to cheat, but in reality it is a very important tool that should be encouraged rather than discouraged.
Many schools discourage such a powerful tool of learning.
AI is a tool that covers nearly every area. You could even say that AI is a jack of all trades, master of none. Teachers can use AI to quickly fact check information, do research, as well as create rough drafts for lesson plans or slides. You may look at what AI does and think that AI is just replacing teachers at that point, but this is untrue.
Students still require a teacher to learn from. The AI isn’t a teacher. It’s a tool, similar to google, libraries, or databases for teachers to take information from and learn. It simply provides the information for teachers to take and use however they like. The teachers’ use of AI to create rough drafts for lesson plans would be something that doesn’t require any excess information to create.
Successful students incorporate AI in their learning and education. They use it to create practice problems to solve as well as identifying weak fundamentals and ideas and strengthening them. There are also many students who do the same without using AI, but take considerably more time. Research indicates AI tools can improve the user’s study habits leading to a better academic performance.
Struggling students struggle because they’re afraid to ask questions during class time. Everybody has their insecurities. AI allows for these students to get around their insecurities, and ask questions to AI without having to worry about any judgement.
School boards argue that AI can be used to cheat. It is very possible to cheat using AI. These school boards need to understand however that the use of AI in cheating is very easy to catch, similar to how writing equations on one’s hand is easy to catch. The amount of utility and time-saving capability that AI provides far outweighs any negative in the long run for students. If you compare two students, the one using AI will do better.
Many schools discourage the use of such a powerful tool. These schools need to understand that by discouraging AI, they are putting their students at an extreme competitive disadvantage, and are inhibiting their students’ capability to learn.
AI is very powerful. It can be used for right and it can be used for wrong. Using it wrong is easy to catch, and using it right majorly improves the capability for a student or teacher to learn or teach.