Massachusetts legislatures have recently proposed a policy that would require teaching “AI literacy” instruction for high school students. The proposed policy introduces a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy requirement in Boston Public Schools (BPS), the first major city district to do so across the United States.
BPS’s AI literacy curriculum aims to provide students and teachers with the skills to use AI as a helpful tool. However, understanding ethical AI use is vital at a time in which people often abuse technology to their own benefit. Noe Voskuil, a junior at Lexington High School, emphasized an ethical-oriented perspective on AI literacy.
“I think AI literacy is learning when it is harmful to use it, and when it is not. Also just basic, technical [skills], such as how do you use it effectively,” Voskuil said.
Following the greater prevalence of AI usage in educational settings, districts across Massachusetts have begun to think about AI literacy policies. AI literacy curriculum and integration programs have made it to the forefront of a world increasingly dependent on AI.
“AI is going to be a big thing. We already see it getting bigger, and I think understanding the implications on not only our daily lives but also the functionality of society as a whole is important,” Sireeta Banerjee, a junior at LHS, said.
However, students at LHS have reflected that they typically are not taught how to use AI proficiently.
“Some of our teachers have told us to prompt [AI] to help us ask questions that would be like the AP style questions, but none of them have told us really how to use it,” Sanjana Boonapalli, a sophomore at LHS, said.
Therefore, students voiced that AI literacy classes could assist in understanding the correct usage of AI. In addition, such classes could highlight AI’s impact on the real world.
“I think a really important part of an AI class would be, how does it impact the world? What are the policies on AI? What should be done to those policies to help people, and what is AI’s place in current events?” Voskuil explained.
Students also noted that AI may have varying applications depending on the subject area.
“I think it is different because different subjects require different skill sets. For English, I feel like having AI write something usually doesn’t benefit me the best, so I feel like AI literacy would be more pointed towards STEM subjects and understanding how to utilize those,” Banerjee said.
On the other hand, students also harbored hesitation towards AI literacy classes in fear of overreliance on AI.
“Some cons [of AI literacy classes] is it takes away from the importance of learning stuff for ourselves, and if people start fully relying on it, we’re not going to learn the foundations for ourselves,” Boonapalli explained.
That being said, AI literacy classes could facilitate some much-needed conversations between educators and students.
“I think students and teachers talking about [AI] together is going to foster empathy. I feel like talking about AI is going to help reduce the frustration and confusion that is around that topic,” Voskuil concluded.