Navigating The Opportunities and Challenges of AI in Education

As artificial intelligence becomes more advanced, more students are using it to perform better at school. But educators are still unsure about how to incorporate it into their classrooms.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, AI gained widespread popularity among students and soon became quickly and easily accessible through platforms like ChatGPT. 2024 survey of almost 600 college students found that almost 4 out of 10 college students use Chat GPT for schoolwork

“AI isn’t anything new,” said Anthony Segura, an English teacher at Sunnyside High School in Fresno, “I just think the current state of something, things like chat GPT, those have become more widely accessible to students.”

The term “artificial intelligence” was first coined in 1955, but  AI didn’t gained mass popularity until after the first commercially available speech recognition software became available on Windows computers in 1997.

The surge in popular interest was followed by a rise in funding for research, which allowed for more progress in developing the technology. Investment in AI has increased since the global COVID-19 lockdown. According to the research think tank Our World in Data, the AI market witnessed the most investments in 2021, totaling about $276 billion.

“I feel like it’s a fire,” Segura said. “Once it starts, it’s hard to put out.”

Some opponents of the technology say AI causes issues such as the spread of misinformation, enabling cheating and plagiarism, and hurting privacy. some believe it also creates laziness and enables a lack of creativity among students. But the disadvantages go beyond school– AI is rapidly replacing jobs involving data analysis, bookkeeping, and others, endangering the job market when students leave school. A 2020 report by the World Economic Forum states about 85 million jobs will be replaced by AI by 2025

But AI has existed in social media, streaming services, healthcare, and other sectors for decades. Given the investments, t he technology is only expected to improve with time, and advocates say it should be used as a helpful tool instead of treating it like a take-and-go situation.

Recent studies show consumers use AI to tailor their learning, develop questions, and edit their work. Many students also use the technology as a teaching and studying tool.

“Personally, it helped me formulate good study questions during exam season,” said Valeria Zuniga, a rising high school senior at Sunnyside Highschool in Fresno, CA.

In a short Instagram survey, students said AI had helped them practicing example questions, learning tips and tricks for tests, and fact-checking their work. Of the 29 students who responded, 20 said they use the technology to better understand their work.

Not every student transitioning to adulthood receives the resources they need, which makes AI a great resource. However, some teachers are concerned that they don’t have the right resources and/or support to incorporate AI into their lessons.

“Teachers and educators haven’t trained in how to best utilize it to the benefit of student learning,” Segura said.

Assemblymember Gail Pellerin of, Santa Cruz, who is also a,  parent said AI can be used to supporting individuals with disabilities. Additionally, AI could also be used to automate administrative tasks in educational spaces, allowing teachers to spend more time on teaching and have more personalized interactions with students.

However, more guidelines and regulations are needed to protect students’ privacy and enhance critical thinking skills while using AI, Pellerin said.

“It has great potential for good, but it also has great potential for disaster,”‘ she said. “We are dealing with a very complicated, complex issue.”