Ai in schools: Pros and cons. College of Education. (n.d.). https://education.illinois.edu/about/news-events/news/article/2024/10/24/ai-in-schools–pros-and-cons
Erickson, Megan. “Rise of the AI Schoolteacher.” Jacobin, no. 52, Winter 2024, pp.3-4, 117-120.
(can be found in the AI and Education Folder in starter readings)
The article by Megan Erickson analyzes the trend toward AI implementation in education, which receives strong support from technology moguls like Bill Gates. She states that AI systems fall short of meeting the essential teaching and learning needs of humans, regardless of their promise to boost equality and involvement. Erickson examines the unsuccessful outcomes of previous technology-driven educational reforms, including Gates’ teacher assessment program and the unequal results of pandemic online learning, to demonstrate how prioritizing operational efficiency threatens valuable teaching practices. She underscores that human connection remains essential for developing students’ critical thinking abilities and emotional resilience, according to educational theorists like Piaget.
McDonald, K. (2024, January 9). Artificial Intelligence Can Transform Education for the better. Catalyst. https://catalyst.independent.org/2024/01/09/artificial-intelligence-transform-education/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwy46_BhDOARIsAIvmcwPz7XQenlfGXDAl5RqqH5EgvFVRJCClTrv1pDphktwqKtTYo4cokIUaAqyREALw_wcB
The Impact of AI on Children’s Development. Harvard Graduate School of Education. (n.d.). https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/edcast/24/10/impact-ai-childrens-development
Assistant Professor Ying Xu at the Harvard Graduate School of Education talks about how AI’s prevalence in education and the lives of children is increasing rapidly. She says that it is possible for children to effectively learn concepts from AI, however, AI cannot replicate the deeper engagement and intricate relationships of humans, which are essential to development. Concerns related to AI and children include things like teaching and encouraging politeness, children being observed making demands or insulting AI because it is not real, or the worry that children will become attached to AI personalities like Amazon’s “Alexa,” and more.
The University of Iowa. (2024, August 27). The role of AI in modern education. University of Iowa. https://onlineprograms.education.uiowa.edu/blog/role-of-ai-in-modern-education
Tamayo, J., Doumi, L., Goel, S., Kovács-Ondrejkovic, O., & Sadun, R. (2023, September 1). Reskilling in the age of ai. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2023/09/reskilling-in-the-age-of-ai
University, S. C. (n.d.). Artificial Intelligence, decision-making, and moral deskilling. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/technology-ethics/resources/artificial-intelligence-decision-making-and-moral-deskilling/
Brian Patrick Green, the director of Technology Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, talks about the loss of ability to make moral decisions due to real-world inexperience, or moral deskilling, as we become more reliant on AI technology to complete tasks and communicate. He argues that morality and decision making shouldn’t be put on “autopilot” as a real pilot would not use autopilot to land a plane. He says that while AI can be helpful, using it for more and more tasks can cause us to lose essential complex understanding and moral decision-making skills. He emphasizes the trend throughout history of advancements meant to make our lives easier tend to cause people to lose basic skills needed in case of a systematic breakdown.
Wong, Lawrence P. W. “Artificial Intelligence and Job Automation: Challenges for Secondary
Students’ Career Development and Life Planning.” Merits, vol. 4, 2024, pp. 370–399, https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8104/4/4/27
Lawrence Wong explores the impact of AI on job transformation and its implications for high school students deciding their career paths. Artificial Intelligence systems are increasingly performing repetitive tasks in professions such as accounting and legal work, yet creative professions like teaching and the arts remain less vulnerable. The author draws from reports by major institutions such as the World Economic Forum to demonstrate that technologically advanced countries like the U.S. and Europe face more significant job losses from AI than developing regions