The year 2024 saw unprecedented growth in artificial intelligence: new innovations included models that could generate breathtaking videos, and others that could reason with quasi-human intelligence. Yet, with this rapid advancement, teachers and school administrators have expressed doubts about the meaning of AI for education.
OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT was seen as a groundbreaking advancement in November 2022, the time of its release. Before long, more and more students began to recognize the potential of using generative models, like ChatGPT, as tools for plagiarism. School leaders scrambled to find methods to combat this. Consequently, existing anti-plagiarism services, such as Turnitin, quickly developed AI detection features. The startup GPTZero, which develops AI writing detection systems, grew to millions of users within less than two years.
Mr. Brendan King has been teaching in the English department of the Bergen County Academies since the 2023–2024 school year and holds approximately 14 years of teaching experience. The Academy Chronicle reached out to Mr. King to gather insights into his outlook for the future of AI and education.
“I feel that AI has made things more convenient for students and teachers alike and in doing so, has allowed for things to be more complicated as well (which can be seen as both good and bad),” said Mr. King.
If educators and students become overdependent on AI, “the skill of preparation and the need to closely read, pay attention, etc., is lost somewhere along the way,” he warned. “With that said … the potential for plagiarism, etc. becomes more apparent as well.
“However, what that could (and should) do is force teachers and students to then have high-level discussions about the material, using those prompts (for example) as a foundation for higher level thinking. But does that happen? I suppose it would depend.”
Artificial intelligence is only evolving, with no signs of slowing down. In a 2024 survey by McKinsey & Company, a US-based management consulting firm, an impressive 65% of respondents indicated that their organizations applied generative AI in their operations to some extent. And a 2023 Forbes survey of American educators shows that 60% of teachers have integrated AI into the educational environment.
With this rapid growth in mind, it’s no surprise that school administrators around the world are preparing for what comes next. In 2023, the Bergen County Technical Schools District released a document titled “District Guidance for AI in the Classroom,” providing official guidance for teachers to navigate generative AI and integrate it in their classrooms.
The document warned against plagiarism with AI, but the district also expressed its belief in responsible usage of AI to an extent: it stated that these tools are “a viable way to get started with a thinking process but not necessarily a means to producing a final product.”
Furthermore, teachers were recommended to “help [their] students learn how to design more specific prompts for AI tools in an effort to get better responses.” The district’s guidance indicates the shift in educational attitudes toward generative AI—instead of directing all their efforts to combat it, educators are moving toward accommodating it and teaching responsible, critical usage of it.
Although many view advancement in generative AI as a net benefit, its critics argue that its downsides largely overshadow the benefits. Corporations, educators, and consumers alike have expressed doubt about the ethics in training and using these models, as well as the quality of their outputs.
“I cannot envision a future where advancements in generative AI will be ‘good’ for any facet of everyday life,” said Mr. King.
Mr. King believes that educators’ shift in attitudes toward AI is reminiscent of the shifts that occurred at the start of the digital age. “Educational concepts and their uses swing like a pendulum—they always have. For example: the use of technology (namely, computers, etc.) in the classroom was initially resisted and then very quickly thereafter seen as a boon for students and staff alike. Districts clamored to be 1:1 to allow for students to have access to high-speed internet, etc.—and during the pandemic, it was seen as a needed tool in order for students and teachers to succeed in a remote setting. But now, there is a push for the classroom to be more tech-free in many ways in order to combat the reliance—or over-reliance—on tech to complete basic tasks. Educational history is filled with similar stories like this. I feel that the current attitudes towards AI will move in a similar pattern.”
Overall, the impact that artificial intelligence’s growth will have on education is inevitable. But what educators can control is their approach to it: they have the power to influence a new generation that will grow up in the age of AI.
