LA Unified School District examines future of AI in education

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The Los Angeles Unified School District is examining how to integrate generative AI platforms into its educational programs.

While the district allowed students 13 and older to use AI tools under certain conditions last year, the school board restricted access to the platforms this year as its Generative AI Committee crafts a curriculum for the technology.

"They make mistakes when you ask them a question and so not to take their responses face value," aid Dominic Caguioa, director of Educational Technology and Innovation.

LAUSD said the goal of the curriculum is to teach students how to use AI without becoming reliant on it.

"Not only professional learning, but also a curriculum across grade levels that does not necessarily require students to use an AI platform but still understand, without using the technology, what AI is and what it is not," Caguioa said.

AI experts said the answer isn't necessarily to ban the technology but to teach students how to use it responsibly.

"Tech has sort of come in and said, we have a platform that can let you do all these things, please buy it, and your kids will learn," said Steven Aguilar, an associate professor of education at USC. "That often isn't true. But that doesn't mean that we need to exclude our kids from actually using AI."

For now, LAUSD students looking to get some help from AI are out of luck.

"I feel there are positives and negatives to it," high school senior Sophie Barnett said. "I definitely think it will have a good impact on certain people who actually want to learn in school."

LA Unified School District examines future of AI platforms in education 02:35