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New York City students and teachers can no longer access ChatGPT - the new artificial intelligence-powered chatbot that generates stunningly cogent and lifelike writing - on education department devices or internet networks, agency officials confirmed Tuesday.

The education department blocked access to the program, citing "negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of content," a spokesperson said. The move from the nation's largest school system could have ripple effects as districts and schools across the country grapple with how to respond to the arrival of the dynamic new technology.

The chatbot's ability to churn out pitch perfect essay responses to prompts spanning a wide range of subjects has sparked fears among some schools and educators that their writing assignments could soon become obsolete - and that the program could encourage cheating and plagiarism.

"Due to concerns about negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of content, access to ChatGPT is restricted on New York City Public Schools' networks and devices," said education department spokesperson Jenna Lyle. "While the tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions, it does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic and lifelong success."

Individual schools can still request access to the site if they're planning to study the technology behind the chatbot, a department spokesperson said.
Related: New York City schools blocked ChatGPT. Here's what other large districts are doing
The program, created by the organization OpenAI, uses machine learning to come up with its own custom-made responses to specific prompts. It can pull and compile historical facts, write in specific styles, and make convincing logical arguments - all with nearly perfect grammar (unless a user gives a prompt to add grammatical errors).

That's posing some thorny questions for educators who rely on independent writing assignments to build and assess students' understanding and critical thinking skills.

One high school English teacher argued in The Atlantic that the chatbot spells the "end of high school English."

The program still has limitations, sometimes coming up with inaccurate conclusions or even including offensive language.

It's unclear if or how many other districts are banning the program. Several other large school districts did not immediately respond to Chalkbeat's inquiries about how they're handling ChatGPT. But the decision from the nation's largest school system could well influence how other districts act.

The education department's ban will only cut off access to the chatbot in some settings. Students can still get on the site on non-education department devices or internet networks.

Adam Stevens, a longtime New York City history teacher who started his career at Paul Robeson High School in Brooklyn and now teaches at Brooklyn Tech, believes that blocking the program is counterproductive. He compared the fears now swirling around ChatGPT to those that emerged around Google.

"People said the same thing about Google 15 or 20 years ago when students could 'find answers online,'" he said.

The program could even prove useful in some cases, Stevens added, generating a "baseline" response to an essay prompt that the class could analyze together and figure out how to improve upon.

Stevens argued that the best way to discourage students from using ChatGPT and building up their critical writing skills is by "assigning them work that is inviting them to explore things worth knowing," and moving away from teaching formulaic writing based on strict rubrics.

"We've trained a whole generation of kids to pursue rubric points and not knowledge," he added, "and of course, if what matters is the point at the end of the semester, then ChatGPT is a threat."

Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.

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NYC blocks access to ChatGPT on school networks as cheating fears swirl

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The chatbot's ability to churn out pitch perfect essay responses to prompts spanning a wide range of subjects has sparked fears among some educators that their writing assignments could soon become obsolete - and that the program could encourage cheating and plagiarism.

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"AI is not there to replace teachers but is there to deliver a better education to our children". 

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How Artificial Intelligence Can be Used Effectively in Education

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How Artificial Intelligence Can be Used Effectively in Education

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How is artificial intelligence (AI) used in education?

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This article highlights how students can benefit from AI in education.

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- AI in education promotes individualized learning and inclusivity.
- Universal access for all students and educators.
- AI can give immediate feedback and tutoring for students.
- This technology advancement can help educators with grading more abstract assignments and compile data.

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The potential of using artificial intelligence in education to enhance learning, assist teachers and fuel more effective individualized learning is exciting, but also a bit daunting. To even have an intelligent conversation about AI in education, one must first push past imaginary science-fiction scenarios of computers and robots teaching our children, replacing teachers and reducing the human element from what is a fundamentally human activity.

One of the leading writers on the benefits of artificial intelligence in education, Matthew Lynch ( "My Vision for the Future of Artificial Intelligence in Education"), is careful to explore the potential pitfalls along with the benefits, writing that "the use of AI in education is valuable in some ways, but we must be hyper-vigilant in monitoring its development and its overall role in our world."

The ethical considerations are profound, as they are when it comes to using artificial intelligence in any type of setting. AI lacks a so-called "moral compass." So, by one way of looking at it, AI programming is "as ethical as its developer," according to TowardsDataScience, in an article about AI ethics that prescribes two important recommendations moving forward:

1. We need to have ethics built into the idea of why a certain piece of technology, equipped with AI, is being developed.

2. We need to monitor/check/police the outcomes of that specific piece of technology in order to fully understand its behavior and make sure that it's not violating our (human) moral compass.

There is robust debate throughout the technology community and beyond about ethics in artificial intelligence and most university degree programs are integrating courses on AI ethics into their curriculum. There, now that we have identified the ethical elephant in the room, let's talk about the exciting possibilities of AI in education.

The Potential Benefits of AI in Education

Ideally, writes Lynch in The EdAdvocate, "AI does not detract from classroom instruction but enhances it in many ways." He summarizes five intriguing potential pluses of integrating AI in education:

Personalization: "It can be overwhelmingly difficult for one teacher to figure out how to meet the needs of every student in his/her classroom. ... AI systems easily adapt to each student's individual learning needs and can target instruction based on their strengths and weaknesses."

Tutoring: AI systems can "gauge a student's learning style and pre-existing knowledge to deliver customized support and instruction."

Grading: Sure, AI can help grade exams using an answer key; but it can also "compile data about how students performed and even grade more abstract assessments such as essays."

Feedback on course quality: For example, if many students are answering a question incorrectly, "AI can zero in on the specific information or concepts that students are missing, so educators can deliver targeted improvements in materials and methods."

Meaningful and immediate feedback to students: Some students may be shy about taking risks or receiving critical feedback in the classroom, but "with AI, students can feel comfortable to make the mistakes necessary for learning and receive the feedback they need for improvement."

Much of the potential envisioned for AI in education centers on reducing time spent by teachers on tedious tasks to free up time for more meaningful ones.

Automating administrative tasks is also one of five potential benefits spotlighted by Bernard Marr, an author, futurist and technology advisor who cites figures forecasting 47.5% growth from 2017-2021 in the use of artificial intelligence in education in the U.S.

In a video on the potential of AI in education, Marr explains why he sees AI having a "massive impact" in education - emphasizing that "AI is not a threat to teachers; it is not there to replace teachers," but rather to deliver a better education to our children." He envisions a future hybrid model that is designed to "get the best out of our artificially intelligent-enabled systems and our teachers." Marr outlines the potential of AI to help our education provide enhanced:

Differentiated and individualized learning

Automation of administrative tasks

Tutoring and support outside the classroom

Universal access for all students

43 Examples of AI in Education

Inspired by a challenge from "an old school teacher who thinks that AI is ruining education," Matthew Lynch reviews a wide range of topics in a piece titled "26 Ways That Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming Education For The Better." For example:

Adaptive Learning: "Used to teach students basic and advanced skills by assessing their present skill level and creating a guided instructional experience that helps them become proficient."

Assistive Technology: AI can help special needs students access a more equitable education, for example by "reading passages to a visually impaired student."

Early Childhood Education: "AI is currently being used to power interactive games that teach children basic academic skills and more."

Data and Learning Analytics: "AI is currently being used by teachers and education administrators to analyze and interpret data," enabling them to make better-informed decisions.

Scheduling: Helping administrators to schedule courses and individuals to manage their daily, weekly, monthly or yearly schedules.

Facilities Management: AI is effective at "monitoring the status of power, Wi-Fi and water services; alerting the facilities management workers when problems arise."

Overall School Management: AI is currently being used to manage entire schools, powering student records systems, transportation, IT, maintenance, scheduling, budgeting, etc.

Writing: Not only does Lynch assert that AI is already at work helping students improve their writing skills, he confesses, "I am currently using a grammar and usage app to help me write this article."

Running down his list, Lynch also cites current uses of AI in education that include:

Classroom/Behavior Management

Lesson Planning

Classroom Audio-Visual

Parent-Teacher Communication

Language Learning

Test Prep

Assessment

Learning Management Systems

Gamification for Enhanced Student Engagement

Staff Scheduling and Substitute Management

Professional Development

Transportation

Maintenance

Finance

Cybersecurity

Safety and Security

Examples of how artificial intelligence is currently being used in higher education include:

Plagiarism Detection

Exam Integrity

Chatbots for Enrollment and Retention

Learning Management Systems

Transcription of Faculty Lectures

Enhanced Online Discussion Boards

Analyzing Student Success Metrics

Academic Research

Connected Campuses

In terms of AI-infused specific technologies now being used in education, the list grows longer every day. Here are just a few:

Thinkster Math: described by its creators as a "math tutoring program leverages human interaction and groundbreaking artificial intelligence to create personalized learning programs"

Jill Watson: an AI-enabled virtual teaching assistant introduced by the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2016

Brainly: a social media site for classroom questions

Nuance: speech recognition software used by students and faculty; capable of transcribing up to 160 words per minute; especially helpful for students who struggle with writing or have accessibility needs

Cognii: AI-based products, including a virtual learning assistant, for K-12 and higher education institutions, as well as corporate training organizations

KidSense: AI educational solutions designed for children, including a voice-to-text tool with algorithms built to recognize the sometimes harder-to-translate speech of young learners

Content Technologies: instructional design and content application solutions fueled by artificial intelligence research engines

As explained by CEO Dr. Scott Parfitt ( see video), Content Technologies Inc. develops AI learning systems that are focused on "turning big data into information, and information into knowledge."

"We send an engine out, it starts reading at light speed every article it can read. It's learned its own material," says Parfitt. The company's education-focused solutions include:

Palitt: built to help instructors easily create "your own custom lecture series, syllabus or textbook"

Cram101: AI technology that can "turn any textbook into a smart study guide complete with chapter summaries, unlimited true-false and multiple choice practice tests and flashcards all drilled down to a specific textbook, ISBN number, author and chapter."

JustTheFacts101: intended to function as the AI equivalent of an old-fashioned yellow marker, instantly highlighting and generating book and chapter-specific summaries

AI in Education [Inclusion and Universal Access]

Bernard Marr explains that AI tools can enhance inclusion and universal access to education in a number of ways, including:

Helping to "make global classrooms available to all, including those who speak different languages or who might have visual or hearing impairments"

Creating access for "students who might not be able to attend school due to illness"

Better serving "students who require learning at a different level or on a particular subject that isn't available in their own school"

Overall, it is hoped that AI will ultimately help educators make continued progress in addressing the broad range of physical, cognitive, academic, social and emotional factors that can affect student learning and ensure that all students have equal opportunity in education, regardless of their social class, race, gender, sexuality, ethnic background or physical and mental disabilities.

AI in Education [Individualized Learning]

There is also considerable optimism around the idea that, as artificial intelligence becomes a more integral part of the classroom, teachers will be better equipped to offer an individualized learning experience for every student.

According to an article in The Atlantic, ( "Artificial Intelligence Promises a Personalized Education for All"), artificial intelligence holds the potential to "enhance human teachers' abilities to tailor lessons to each student without knocking their class schedule off track," eliminating the need for educators to "teach to the middle," as often happens when their students have a range of skill levels and learning abilities.

Rose Luckin, a professor of learning-centered design at University College London, is quoted as saying that, "The real power of artificial intelligence for education is in the way that we can use it to process vast amounts of data about learners, about teachers, about teaching and learning interactions." Ultimately, AI can "help teachers understand their students more accurately, more effectively."

The Future of AI in Education

Though there continues to be widespread debate over the pros and cons of deploying AI technology in the field of education, including the concerns about depersonalization and the ethical considerations cited above, there is an emerging consensus that the extraordinary range of current and future benefits will carry the day.
This report on Artificial Intelligence in Education was developed by the University of San Diego's innovative, online Master of Science in Applied Artificial Intelligence program, an AI industry thought leader and education partner.

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43 Examples of Artificial Intelligence in Education

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The potential for using artificial intelligence in education to assist teachers and enhance learning is profound. Here's an overview, plus examples of how AI is being used in education today.

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This article explains both the advantages and disadvantages of integrating AI into classrooms, however it is important to consider these disadvantages. 

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- Risk of technology addiction.
- AI replacing teachers can lead to unemployment growth rates.
- Loss of human interaction.
- AI installation, repairs, and in general is very expensive.

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Technology is an essential part of human progress. Whether it be sticks, stones or smart phones, tech has allowed us to excel in our environments. With tech becoming more ubiquitous and classrooms being digitized, the pros and cons of artificial intelligence have been the focus of many heated debates between education and tech experts.

After all, computers are getting smarter, and artificial intelligence is more science-fact than science-fiction. Educators could soon find themselves at the head of a digital classroom with AI at its heart. What could possibly go wrong?

Skills in the classroom infographic

"Artificial intelligence ( AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. The term may also be applied to any machine that exhibits traits associated with a human mind such as learning and problem-solving."
Investopedia

Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence: 15 Reasons Why it Works
1. Personalized Learning: Much attention is usually given to what students learn, with a historical tendency to focus on curriculum. However, how a student learns is just as important. Advances in AI are giving teachers a better understanding of how their students learn and allowing them to customize the curriculum accordingly.
2. ITS (Intelligent Tutoring Systems): ITS aren't some far-off vison of the future-they already exist in a practical capacity. While far from the norm, they are capable of functioning without a teacher having to be present and can effectively challenge and support the learner using different algorithms.

3. Adaptive Group Formation: By analyzing learner information, AI can generate groups particularly suited to a certain task, or groups that balance one learner's weaknesses with another learner's strengths.

4. Facilitation by Example: Models of effective collaboration can be used to support learners and help them identify effective problem solving strategies

5. Intelligent Moderation: Intelligent Moderation allows human tutors, moderators and teachers to analyze the data produced by large groups with the assistance of AI techniques like machine learning. In turn, educators can be more efficient in the classroom.

6. Virtual Reality Learning: Taking a page from aviation education, VR-assisted learning allows for educational support in authentic environments and extends the boundaries of the classroom. Realistic immersion in virtual environments can provide learners with a richer understanding of the material. This will also act as a stepping stone to real-world experiences, with fully integrated AIs, humans will employ machines for space and ocean exploration, fraud detection, knowledge management, job training and precision surgeries.

7. Essay Grading Software: Software that can instantly grade student essays is a significant benefit. Every graded essay adds to a central database to which future essays are compared.

8. Real-time Problem Solving Assessment: This reduces the load on teachers by providing simultaneous instruction in a classroom setting.

Performance over time when looking at computer performance versus human performance graph

9. Improving Course Quality: AI can analyze patterns in which a large number of students submit wrong answers to the same questions. By alerting the educator to these patterns, AI can help make teachers more effective.

10. Dynamic Scheduling and Predictive Analysis By using predictive computing, AI can learn students' habits and propose the most efficient study schedule for them. This is a benefit for the customer service agent, medical intern, or anyone who does a repetitive or labrious tasks; a machine won't get bored, tired or need a break and should the machine encounter a problem or question out of its programming a human will be contacted to step in.

11. Custom Textbooks: Educators will be able to import a syllabus and AI will generate a textbook filled with the core content (CTI). This makes for an incredible amount of customization, not only from class to class or grade to grade, but within the school year itself.

12. Virtual Humans: While seemingly something out of science fiction, virtual humans are already a reality. Intelligent interfaces like " the twins" at the Boston Museum of Science, for example, provide a much-needed social dynamic to artificial intelligence. Virtual humans like avatars, digital assistants or Chatbots are cost efficient and can work 24 hours, seven days a week in those repetitive and time-consuming tasks no human enjoys doing.

13. Intelligent Game Based Learning Environments: Using gamification to motivate learners can help improve retention while making the learning experience fun.

14. Machine Translation: While today's translation apps are not as accurate as human translation, machine translation can be faster and more efficient. Machine translation has the potential to bridge the language gap for many second language students.

15. Empowering the Disabled (Differently-Abled): AI programs that augment the educational experience for the disabled are already in development by companies like Facebook. These advancements can grant learners with special needs a greater sense of autonomy.

How long will it take Ai to simulate learning and human intelligence graph

As groundbreaking as AI in the classroom can be, it is not without a few drawbacks.

Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence: 6 Reasons to be Skeptical

1. Cost: When combining the cost of installation, maintenance and repair, it's clear that AI is expensive. Only the most well-funded schools will find themselves in a position to benefit from AI.

2. Addiction: As we rely on machines to make everyday tasks more efficient, we risk technology addiction.

3. L ack of Personal Connections: While smart machines improve the education experience, they should not be considered a substitute for personal interaction. Relying too much on these machines to grade or tutor may lead to educational oversights that hurt learners more than help.

4. Unemployment: Making teaching more efficient could create less of a demand for educators. With the advent of MOOCs, class size is no longer as much of a determining factor in quality education, and even at the K-12 level, the implementation of AI may mean a decrease in teaching aids and assistants.

Efficient business decision making infographic

5. Efficient Decision Making: Computers are getting smarter everyday. They are demonstrating not only an ability to learn, but to teach other computers. However, it is debatable whether they can implement intuition-based decision making in new situations, which often arises in the classroom.

6. Loss of information: When the inevitable occurs and an AI needs repairs, how much information will be lost?

When it comes to the pros and cons of artificial intelligence, there are clearly more benefits. However, in order to fully gain from AI, a balance must be struck between the machines that optimize tasks and the people that use the machines. The aim of artificial intelligence in the classroom shouldn't be to replace educators. It should make their jobs easier.

By integrating your digital classroom within a school intranet, you widen the options for students to learn in a hybrid environment. There are options to automate replies, content and lessons, based on your students needs and create a social platform where students can interact with each other, teachers and parents.

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15 Pros and 6 Cons of Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom

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Technology is an essential part of human progress. Whether it be sticks, stones or smart phones, tech has allowed us to excel in our environments. With

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The use of Artificial Intelligence is growing rapidly beyond education. 

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Results show:
- Most educators have not used AI.
- There has been little to no professional development of incorporating AI into the classroom.
- Results varied for the importance of showing students how to use these new technologies.

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Most educators say that teaching students on how to use tech tools powered by artificial intelligence -and understanding the potential pitfalls of the technology-should be a priority.

But only 1 in 10 say that they know enough basics about artificial intelligence to teach it or use it to some degree in their work. That's according to a nationally representative sample of teachers, principals, and district leaders surveyed by the EdWeek Research Center in May and June of this year.

The survey results paint a picture of a profession that is keenly aware of how artificial intelligence is swiftly changing what students need to learn and how educators will do their jobs, but one that may not be fully prepared to meet these new demands.

Most telling is how few educators say they have received any professional development on how to incorporate AI into their work in K-12 education: Eighty-seven percent said they had received no such PD at the time of the survey.

It's not hard to see why. Advances in artificial intelligence are happening rapidly. While AI is already used in schools-in adaptive assessments, translation services, and programs that plan bus routes, to name a few examples-the release of the free and easy-to-use AI tools ChatGPT 3 and DALL-EE late last year changed the state of play almost overnight. ChatGPT can write essays in seconds and even pass the standardized bar exam.

While ChatGPT led to early fears of students using the technology to cheat, generative AI-which can create text, audio, images, videos, and computer code with simple prompts-is fueling a surge of new uses and tools for educators. Teachers can ask ChatGPT to create a grading rubric for an assignment or use new AI-powered tools that can create an entire slide deck for a presentation on a given topic and grade in seconds. However, generative AI also poses a number of sticky ethical challenges around data privacy, disinformation, and bias.

Experts say that AI advances are poised to alter many industries-including K-12 education-and the jobs that today's students will be asked to do in the future.

Following are three charts that illustrate in detail how teachers, principals, and district leaders view the importance of teaching AI, how they rate their own knowledge of the technology, and what, if any, training they have received on it.

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What Educators Know About Artificial Intelligence, in 3 Charts

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Most educators say they have not received any professional development on artificial intelligence.

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This podcast is very interesting. Lopez questions new ideas of what schools should be teaching students, as AI continues to evolve in our society. 

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What should Educators be Teaching Students in a World of AI?

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What should Educators be Teaching Students in a World of AI?

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AI continues to evolve and it is clear technology will soon contain much more knowledge than any person could hope to contain. In a world with AI, what should schools be teaching students? How do we prepare them for a future reality which does not exist yet?

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what should schools be teaching students?

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‎The AI Education Conversation: Episode 3: In a world of AI, what should schools be teaching students? on Apple Podcasts

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AI continues to evolve and it is clear technology will soon contain much more knowledge than any person could hope to contain. In a world with AI, what should schools be teaching students? How do we prepare them for a future reality which does not exist yet?

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With the use of Artificial Intelligence increasing in our society, it is important to consider how this will impact education, specifically in K-12 classrooms. In this curation, I highlighted some of the important aspects to consider, such as advantages and disadvantages, educators' familiarity of AI, and how it can effectively be used in a classroom. AI is meant to enhance students' learning, however some research argues that it could potentially replace teachers. Teachers need more training with this technology for it to be effectively implemented into their classrooms. If used effectively, AI can create universal access to all students and promote inclusivity.