Ready or not, the AI revolution that is transforming the American economy is beginning to transform American students too, even in elementary school. While teachers and school administrators are scrambling to catch up with the technology, children are embracing it, with or without guidance.
It’s time for schools to start providing that guidance.
Students of all ages are using AI, whether through ChatGPT, AI chatbots integrated in Instagram and Snapchat, or AI summaries on Google. More than 70 percent of teens have used an AI companion, an AI chatbot designed to provide conversation and friendship, and 1 in 3 teen AI companion users have talked about a serious issue with that companion instead of with a real person, according to a study from Common Sense Media.
AI is a powerful technology and is capable of doing extraordinary things — and also horrible ones. It can help research and write papers, draw illustrations, compose music, and create videos. But it can also make things up and disseminate ideas that can cause harm. Without proper instruction, students may accept false information as fact, use AI to avoid thinking for themselves, and fall victim to AI-generated content.
Not surprisingly, Massachusetts school districts are all over the map in how they are using AI in the classrooms. Some schools are encouraging teachers to use AI to assist with creating educational materials. In Leominster and Nantucket, students can use personalized tutors and even converse with AI versions of historical figures, according to officials in those municipalities. But many schools have yet to introduce AI at all.
They all should be teaching some form of AI literacy. That means helping students understand how AI is made, where its information comes from, its limitations, and the ethical, social, and environmental implications of its use. It also includes teaching students the basics of AI safety, emphasizing the risks of hallucinations (when an AI tool generates incorrect information), and learning how to critically evaluate its output.
As Rebecca Winthrop, director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, explained to the editorial board, there is a difference between using AI tools and teaching AI literacy. “If you’re having a deeper, more engaging learning experience, if you’re interactively talking with AI Abraham Lincoln, that’s cool; kids will be more engaged, and they’ll learn,” Winthrop said. “However, that alone is not going to do the trick. You need kids to really understand, ‘what is this technology?'”
AI literacy can take on many forms, from a separate class to being incorporated into students’ interactions with AI Abraham Lincoln. Teachers can start that activity off with an overview of what generative AI is and explain that the AI Lincoln’s words are fictional and generated.
While some concepts might seem appropriate only for high school students, some districts are introducing them in middle or even elementary school. Gwinnett County, Georgia, in addition to having an AI-themed high school, created a cluster of public schools specifically focused on integrating AI education across subjects and age groups.
At the elementary school level in that Georgia county, students learn about programming and algorithms and teachers connect those concepts to other technologies, including AI. The district’s director of artificial intelligence and computer science, Sallie Holloway, emphasized to the editorial board the importance of introducing AI in a way that demystifies it, helping students understand that AI is programmed by humans and is not a “magic black box.” This type of education prepares students to navigate AI outside the classroom in a safer manner.
Massachusetts should follow suit. It endangers students not to. While the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is preparing to release resources to help educators navigate AI, including a one-hour AI literacy module, it is not enough. And the department seems to know this.
“This module is not going to solve all of the challenges related to generative AI in school. I do not want to oversell it,” Jackie Gantzer, the department’s director of edtech and school support, told the editorial board. “Truly, this, right now, is focused on those most basic elements.”
Teachers should not be expected to learn about AI literacy on their own and integrate it into their current curriculum on top of all their other responsibilities. The state needs to create more professional development opportunities so teachers can understand how to teach AI literacy, and it should provide clear curriculum guidance, knowing that the material will likely evolve. As rapidly as AI tools are being introduced to students inside or outside of school, AI literacy must be taught.
We know what happens if we don’t teach it. We have seen it with social media. Most students were never taught how algorithms manipulate attention, how false information spreads, or how these platforms profit from engagement. The consequences are clear from the teen mental health crisis to civic misinformation. We cannot afford to repeat that mistake with AI.
Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us @GlobeOpinion.
