Detroit-area school district to bring AI in classrooms
NORTHVILLE (CBS DETROIT) — Northville Public Schools will begin using AI technology in the classrooms to benefit both students and faculty.
"You send home a traditional math worksheet, and you hope the kid knows what they are doing. Well, now, you can give the worksheet to a bot and say tonight, the kids are going to use you to ask for help on these problems. Make them try it twice before giving them additional support, and then explain it to them before providing an answer," said Assistant Superintendent Aaron Baughman.
Officials say certain classrooms piloted the method last year, and now it's being pushed districtwide.
"It's like having a personal educational assistant for a kid while being overseen by a teacher," Baughman said.
Plagiarism is of concern; even if a student opts for that, come exam time, it would be evident. Baughman says information bias is a main concern.
"The machine is being fed by every book and every piece of writing video that's ever been made, and how it's been portrayed and written is how it will come through in these conversations," Baughman said.
The district says it will begin using nine different programs at the start of the school year. The cost to implement them is around $150,000.
"I don't want our kids to get lazy. I want them to take the opportunity to keep learning, so even if they look up a subject, hopefully, they'll keep exploring that and not look up the answer," said parent Jodie Rhoden.
Rhoden says when she first heard of the initiative, she was concerned with the method being used to cheat. But she believes it's the way of the world, and as long as it's implemented strategically, it can be beneficial.
"My children go 100 miles an hour like me, so I know they want knowledge fast; I think AI provides that much quicker than it did for my generation of looking through encyclopedias or library books," she told CBS News Detroit.
When it's exam time, lockdown browsers will be used to prevent students from seeking information elsewhere. Technology can also be faulty at times. If information is given inaccurately, the teacher will conduct additional research.
"We notify the developer. and hopefully. they find the bug what caused it. What's driving it to have inaccurate information," Baughman said.
Regarding privacy concerns regarding data, officials say everything will stay within the program companies, and any data that's exported will be scrubbed.