K-12 Students Start to Experience AI Shock

I often use the "should students be allowed to use AI in school" debate topic when teaching younger students about debate.

Most of the students I teach say they should be allowed to use it and that they should even by taught by bots, as they don't like being slowed down by the other students in the class.

Yesterday, I showed them this article. I can almost remember the shocked look on the one girl's face.

Both of the students said that it's one thing to debate about it and another thing for it to actually happen.

One said that people have been talking a lot about AI taking jobs and she's even been talking about it with her parents. She said her parents suggested she become a preschool teacher because parents wouldn't trust robots to take care of their kids.

Another said she no longer supported students being taught by AI, even if it would benefit her. She said she wanted to ask the school owner what people would do for work.

We agreed on the next homework assignment: Write a response to the school’s arguments that support replacing teachers with AI. I said I’d also do the assignment.

The students agreed that it was a tough issue to tackle.

There are many difficult societal conversations coming. We’ve been avoiding those, pretending that

(a) the technology isn’t very good;

(b) it’s just another piece of technology like a bicycle;

© courts will say it’s a violation of IP;

(d) people won’t use it because it causes climate change and/or is biased.

None of these will slow down development and use.

It’s time to talk. It’s time to talk to our students about this (all of them).

We are largely training all of them to be knowledge workers by prioritizing knowledge acquisition.