The quick advancement and increasing availability of generative AI technology have brought about both advantageous opportunities and significant educational obstacles. The focus of the issue lies in understanding how to grapple with AI productively in fields like education while simultaneously mitigating potential harms. This conversation has risen between educators, researchers, parents, and more. Some believe that AI could benefit personalized learning, pushing creativity, and efficiency in administrative departments, while others have concerns over academic integrity, necessary human interaction, biases within the algorithms, and ethical issues. The overreaching question is: How could AI carefully and ethically mesh with education while still addressing and navigating its inherent limitations?
The sources are used to provide various voices that are essential in addressing the central question. For example, “background” can be found in the articles by the Illinois College of Education’s “AI in Schools: Pros and Cons” and the University of Iowa’s “The Role of AI in Modern Education,” which give context to the emergence of generative AI technologies, prevalence in education, and a brief history of its development. My main “theory” source will be Markkula Center’s article on “Artificial Intelligence, Decision-Making, and Moral Deskilling” which examines this topic through a crucial theoretical lens, giving the discussion more ethical depth. My “exhibit” sources like Harvard Graduate School of Education’s “The Impact of AI on Children’s Development” and Assistant Professor Ying Xu’s research on children’s interactions with AI give more information on the implementation of AI and how it affects students. For “argument,” I looked at the opposing views of Kerry McDonald’s “Artificial Intelligence Can Transform Education For the Better” and Megan Erickson’s analysis in “Rise of the AI Schoolteacher.” Motive is pulled from all sources, as they all have shaped my view on this conversation, but mostly Megan Erickson’s piece as well.