Guidance on AI Guidance Document Updated
I updated our 79-page Guidance on Guidance for schools (freely available at SSRN)
Critical additions --
(1) Yesterday, the White House released its "Critical Steps to Protect Workers from Risks of Artificial Intelligence." These steps are something that should be included in every school's guidance. I'm proud to say that thanks to the leadership of Jerry Almendarez, and Dr. Sabba Quidwai reminding me how important supporting all of SAUSD's employees is to Jerry, we ended up with some language that I think covers all of the points raised by the White House, and I cited that in this update. Sometimes the keyboard helps you write the right stuff :).
If you know Jerry, this LinkedIn post from him today will not surprise you that SAUSD’s executive assistants are learning to use GPTs to streamline their work.
Guidance needs to be forward-thinking and include consideration for every single aspect of a school/district. AI applies to anything we use human intelligence for, which is a lot in a school. :). Guidance documents can't just be how adults think students should be allowed to use AI in the classroom.
(2) I added the concept of Co-Intelligence, something I think is critical because not only is the idea of competing against machine intelligence in at least many instances probably a lost cause but because co-intelligence benefits all of humanity. I believe the first time a K-12 guidance document referenced this is in the Arizona Guidance LeeAnn Lindsey, Ed.D.
(3) With the release of OpenAI's real-life dystopian "Her" product, I added a greater plea for AI literacy. Besides learning how to play nice, what is more important for students to learn and talk about right now?
(4) In a plea to get schools to prioritize the significance of the technology, it includes a brief note about the new multi-modal models and emerging agentic systems. There is also a note about the new Meta Chamelon models with some photos of their capabilities.
(5) I'm biased, but I really think this document is awesome :). If you are working on a district guidance, check it out!