The laptop displays ChatGTP. (Photo by April Corbin Girnus/Nevada Current)
This the story was originally published by WESA. It is not available for republication.
Pennsylvania lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are working to draft guidelines to govern how schools utilize artificial intelligence in the classroom while developing protections for student privacy and data.
At least 35 states have published guidelines on artificial intelligence in education, according to the nonpartisan State Education Commission. Although the Pennsylvania Department of Education does scratched some of the questions and considerations school districts should consider when implementing AI tools, no official guidance has been issued.
“Pennsylvania is woefully behind on AI policy,” House Education Committee Chairman Pete Schweyer (R-Allentown) told WESA.
“ With that in mind, I think what [minority chair Bryan Cutler and I] from Democrats and Republicans alike, from teachers and stakeholders, is anyone opposed to incorporating AI into the classroom,” Schweyer continued. “Everyone is generally concerned about ethical use, student privacy, student data – making sure kids learn how to use it as a technology and not misuse it for other reasons.”
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Members of the House Education Committee were in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to gather feedback on future artificial intelligence legislation from local educators and national experts.
Mark Holtzman, superintendent of the Hempfield Area School District, said state involvement is needed to provide guardrails for schools willing to implement artificial intelligence technology.
“I think whether it’s a limited list of vendors, whether it’s ideas and concepts that you don’t want to cross … there should be something there, without a doubt, that helps us start that basic conversation,” he said.
Holtzman said artificial intelligence is already built into the tools students and teachers utilize every day. The district has partnered with Carnegie Mellon University to pilot an AI-powered weapons detection system at five entrances to the high school.
“This is the future. This is what artificial intelligence brings,” Holtzman said. “When we talk about how important this is, it also has an impact on school safety.”
But school leaders also say teachers need more AI training, as well as investment, to ensure equitable access to technology in every school district.
Mark Stuckey, chief technology officer for Pittsburgh Public Schools, urged lawmakers to establish a framework requiring artificial intelligence companies to be lucid about how they collect student data and how they train their models.
“AI bias, student data privacy and teacher preparation are not hypothetical risks,” Stuckey said. “There are current challenges.”
Teachers say that artificial intelligence should improve qualifications, not automate
During the hearing, representatives from the country’s two largest teachers unions – the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers – encouraged the committee to create measures to prohibit artificial intelligence from replacing teachers.
Robin Vitucci of the AFT National Artificial Intelligence Teaching Academy said teachers can utilize the technology to perform administrative tasks, plan lessons and differentiate lessons to meet students’ needs.
“But it should be used simply to elevate the profession, not to automate it,” Vitucci said.
Last year, proposed cyber charter school caused an uproar when its leaders suggested using AI-based learning and tutors to deliver lessons to students. Government officials rejected the proposal, stating in their decision that there was insufficient evidence that such a model would be effective.
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In her testimony Tuesday, Avonworth math teacher Melissa Costantino-Poruben called for a ban on all charter schools that rely on artificial intelligence teaching and for districts to be prohibited from replacing teachers with artificial intelligence.
Costantino-Poruben said educators need time to familiarize themselves with AI tools so they can utilize them safely and effectively.
“I think we really need to give our teachers time to learn and play with AI tools so that they can then find value in them and apply them in their classrooms,” she said.
On Wednesday, lawmakers will hear additional testimony from higher education leaders at Carnegie Mellon University.
