New York City Public Schools will launch an Artificial Intelligence Policy Lab to guide the nation鈥檚 largest school district鈥檚 approach to this rapidly evolving technology.
That development鈥攁nnounced Oct. 4鈥攊s quite a turnabout for a district that less than a year ago banned ChatGPT, an AI-powered research and writing tool, spurring other districts to follow suit.
In May, New York on school networks. And now, the district wants to take the lead on crafting policy around the smart use of AI for teaching and learning and the management of schools.
鈥淭echnology is constantly evolving and New York City Public Schools aims to remain at the forefront of these changes,鈥� Nicole Brownstein, a spokeswoman for the district, said in an email. 鈥淲e are thrilled to announce that we will be implementing an AI Policy Lab in partnership with national experts and school districts across the country focusing on human-centered AI implementation, equity, safety, ethics, effectiveness, and transparency.鈥�
The effort won鈥檛 be confined to the Big Apple. New York鈥檚 AI policy lab will serve as a hub for a national network of similar labs in school districts across the country. Roughly 15 school districts of various sizes and demographic mixes will likely be part of that network initially, said Erin Mote, the co-founder and executive director for InnovateEDU, a nonprofit partnering with New York on the lab.
New York鈥檚 AI policy lab will consider questions about cybersecurity and privacy, as well as ways to use AI-powered tech responsibly for teaching and learning. It will examine how to communicate with parents about AI-powered tech, whether and how AI can be used in lesson planning and other teacher tasks, and the ethics of allowing students to use generative AI tools like ChatGPT for school assignments.
The lab will 鈥渢hink about: under what conditions could AI use be safe, accountable, fair, and efficacious?鈥� Mote said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to tackle some sticky issues here around [reconciling] the technology and existing policy.鈥�
New York will make any of the resources it produces鈥攊ncluding sample letters to families explaining AI tools or materials to help districts clarify their AI policies for educators鈥攁vailable to any district that needs guidance.
[AI] is probably in almost every product that you already purchase, every new product that's coming out. Having a way to think about what you鈥檙e allowing and not allowing and what questions you鈥檙e going to ask vendors is absolutely critical.
Because New York is one of the most diverse districts in the country, the policy lab will help the K-12 field consider how AI could be used with a range of student populations, Mote added.
鈥淚 think New York gives us an opportunity to think about some really interesting challenges that education systems are thinking about all over the country right now,鈥� she said.
鈥楧ifferent moment鈥� from the rush to ban AI last school year
Schools are hungry for specifics on AI policy, but most states and districts have held off in providing them.
That鈥檚 likely to change soon, said Keith Krueger, the executive director of the Consortium for School Networking or CoSN, a membership organization for district technology officials.
AI has developed rapidly, but policy on how to handle it in schools has been slower to percolate, he said.
Krueger recently spoke to a group of superintendents and district tech officials in California. When he asked how many of them had policies and procedures already on the books on AI, few raised their hands. But when he shifted the question to 鈥渁re you considering AI policies?鈥� nearly every hand went up.
This is a 鈥渄ifferent moment from December, January,鈥� when a new version of ChatGPT was released, shocking educators with its humanlike ability to craft anything from an essay on Shakespeare to a chocolate chip cookie recipe, and prompting a 鈥渞ush to ban AI,鈥� Krueger said.
Now, many district leaders understand that AI is 鈥減robably in almost every product that you already purchase, every new product that鈥檚 coming out,鈥� Krueger said. 鈥淗aving a way to think about what you鈥檙e allowing and not allowing and what questions you鈥檙e going to ask vendors is absolutely critical.鈥�
CoSN is partnering with the Council of the Great City Schools to create an 鈥淎I readiness鈥� checklist for districts, to help guide their thinking about AI policy. CoSN and CCGS鈥檚 work is separate from the AI lab in New York, though there will be collaboration between the two efforts.
