LOS ALAMITOS, CA – After writing up a draft for his English essay, a student opens up a new tab. It’s an artificial intelligence program called Grammarly, and it’s going to help him correct his punctuation, spelling, and wording by giving suggestions based on the given content.

At another desk, a student’s Google Doc is completely blank, so she pulls up a software called ChatGPT, types up a prompt, and the program writes a complete essay for her.

In many classrooms, teachers utilize an AI program called Turnitin, which detects plagiarism and other forms of cheating in student’s assignments. For teachers, AI softwares can also generate rubrics and grade homework.

No matter the method, AI in education is everywhere.

Yet, these big-name companies and programs are far from the beginning of artificial intelligence in education. Nowadays, humans take functions like spell-check, auto-correct, and translation programs for granted as we “domesticate AI,” a phrase coined by linguist Naomi S. Baron, author of “Who Wrote This?- How AI and the Lure of Efficiency Threaten Human Writing.”

Just like when the Internet was first made public, artificial intelligence has developed too quickly for humans to regulate. Now, AI is unrestrained and doesn’t show any signs of stopping growth.

So how do we deal with this inevitable rise of AI? What does the future look like for AI in education, and what role does it play in schools and classrooms?

Staying up to date

There is still much to be learned about artificial intelligence and how educators can utilize it. Right now, the main focus for school districts like Los Alamitos Unified is staying up to date on AI’s development and capabilities.

Ondrea Reed, M.Ed, the Deputy Superintendent for Education Services at Los Alamitos Unified School District said that, though AI has the ability to help teachers and students, there are still some concerns about security and ethics in the classroom. Other risks of AI in education include inequality in accessibility, technical difficulties, and over-reliance on technology. While AI is useful, it’s not perfect.

“The use of AI in monitoring and evaluating student performance could raise ethical concerns related to surveillance and the interpretative accuracy of AI,” Reed said.

Because of these risks and uncertainties, the process of incorporating artificial intelligence into education remains slow.

“AI will likely become more integrated into everyday learning activities; however, we are on the precipice of the use of AI as a school district, [and] we are just beginning to explore and have conversations around learning implications with staff,” Reed said.

Dr. Daniel Bennett, LAUSD’s Education Technology Coordinator, explained that the district currently has no official policy on the use of AI in classrooms, other than allowing teachers some access to AI programs and prohibiting students from it. Time will only tell how school districts will adapt to this new technology.

What does the future look like for AI?

Two words: efficiency and personalization. Integrating AI into education is promised to automate processes like grading assignments, allowing teachers to spend more time with students and help those who need more assistance in the classroom. AI will slowly become a teacher assistant to educators, and redundancy will be replaced with innovation.

“What I hope will happen is that we leverage AI in a way that helps us to work smarter, not harder,” Dr. Bennett said.

Additionally, the goal for districts like LAUSD is to use artificial intelligence to personalize learning for each student. Personalized learning, Reed explained, will allow teachers to understand each student’s learning style. A personalized learning format will also help students gain feedback on progress and areas of improvement.

Reed also said that, as AI continues to grow over the years, it will become crucial for students to adapt to it as well for their future careers, just like the Internet.

“As AI becomes more prevalent in various industries, incorporating AI literacy and skills in the curriculum may become vital in preparing students for the future workforce,” Reed said.

Dr. Bennett mentioned that AI can help beyond just the classroom and allow for improvement throughout schools.

“It’d be nice if AI helped us with the master schedule [for] the high school. It’s a challenging puzzle, and it can really help us to find things that maybe we overlooked. I look at it as being an efficiency tool,” he said.

Now what?

Robots may not be taking over the world anytime soon, but humans can be sure to expect artificial intelligence becoming part of their everyday lives soon.

Just like the Internet, AI was once a novel technology, but already it has adapted itself into education, from grading papers to class assignments. But it’s up to people to decide how they adapt to AI.

This story was originally published on Griffin Gazette on January 26, 2024.