Ed3 Weekly Issue #116: AI You Kidding Me?
Some troubles are brewing in the artificial intelligence space for education
Hello Ed3 Community,
This has been an interesting summer to say the last, particularly in the land of artificial intelligence.
For all the amazing growth and increased awareness about this potentially transformative tool, there has been an equal amount of skepticism and worry about data and security.
A recent announcement by the Los Angeles Unified School District failed to ease these concerns.
The details are still bubbling to the surface. But essentially the school district has paused its affiliation with an artificial intelligence chatbot it had a contract with.
I cover more details in this week’s deep dive, but this is the same school district that had a previous issue managing student data. Combine this with the sudden shutdown of this AI chatbot and the company that was paid $3 million by the district, it doesn’t put AI adoption in the best light.
I don’t want to dwell solely on the negative. There is other news such as increased awareness around equity with AI. What makes these discussions all the more complicated are announcements like we see at Morehouse College on AI assistants for teachers in the metaverse.
I wonder what advancements in education-focused blockchains might look like in the next 5, 10, or 20 years.
New technology adoption can be challenging. Things move fast. There are lots of hyped-up promises, and also a lot of concerned naysayers. It is hard to distinguish fact from fiction.
That's why it's essential to stay true to yourself as an educator and to your learning community, ensuring you make the best decisions for the young people you are responsible for guiding.
With this focus, you can navigate any technology advancements thrown your way.
📰 Featured Articles:
Check out the resources linked below to delve deeper into the topics covered in this issue. Each resource is categorized by crypto, blockchain, and AI.
🤖 AI News
AI and Equity, Explained: A Guide for K-12 Schools
Image by iStock/Getty
🔗 Equity challenges in K-12 education related to AI, including the need for schools to address bias in AI tools, ensure equal access to AI education for all students, and train educators to use AI critically.
🥽 AR/VR News
Morehouse to use AI teaching assistants this fall
Credit: Muhsinah Morris
🔗 Morehouse College is planning to use AI teaching assistants to help crack the code of education. Professor Muhsinah Morris says every professor will have an AI assistant in three to five years.
⛓️ Blockchain News
Arbitrum Foundation supports EDU Chain as an education-focused blockchain
Image Credit: Arbitrum Foundation
🔗 Open Campus, the decentralized education protocol, announced today it has received grant funding from the Arbitrum Foundation to support the upcoming launch of EDU Chain.
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🤿 Weekly Deep Dive
Image from ASU+GSV Airshow
This article discusses the Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) decision to discontinue its AI chatbot program launched in December 2023 to help students with homework and provide mental health support. The chatbot, named "Ed," experienced a significant malfunction in May 2024, causing it to generate inappropriate responses and hallucinate information. This incident led to the suspension of the program and raised concerns about the reliability and safety of AI technology in educational settings.
This raises several concerns about the adoption of AI platforms in schools. These concerns include financial issues (the district initially invested $3 million in the project) and the excessive hype promoting these tools as revolutionary for enhancing student learning and well-being.
I hope the collapse of the chatbot encourages the LAUSD to reevaluate its approach to AI implementation in education and has highlighted the challenges of integrating such technologies responsibly. Moving forward I expect more districts and schools to be more cautious about how many resources they invest without doing their due diligence.
Thank you for stopping by for another issue of my newsletter on emerging technology in education. Link to all my work by checking out my website or give me a follow on the X platform. I also launched a supplemental podcast for each issue, subscribe on Spotify here.