With the rise of AI use in classrooms affecting how students are learning, Galileo intends on finding ways to use AI as a tool instead of an easy way to get ahead. The school has formed a committee in order to try and make sure students and teachers are using it responsibly & to make sure its not being taken advantage of and people are actually learning.
According to assistant principal Mr. Reid, the idea of starting an AI committee came from a conference he attended recently. He said, “ I went to a conference at UC Berkeley about the use of AI and how to use it as a tool effectively to improve academic performance but also how to use it responsibly and how to discourage plagiarism and cheating and how best to prepare students for a world where AI is going to play a huge role in changing our lives.”
Mr. Reid also mentioned how Galileo isn’t the only school starting AI committees. He said, “I was sitting at a table with teachers and administrators from Oakland Tech, Mountain View High, Berkeley High, etc… They have programs and committees that are aimed towards getting to the ground floor of something that is going to dramatically change the reality of education in the future.
“The AI transformation of educational spaces is just getting started and I think it’s in our best interest to work with other people who are on the forefront of this rapidly changing environment, and really work with teachers parents and community members to make sure that were doing everything in out power to best provide for our students to be able to utilize the tools that they will need in order to be competitive in the bay area or just life in general to become entrepreneurs.”
Currently the state of the AI committee is just getting started. They are looking at the best policies they can find, and trying to figure out how they can create positive change in the way that AI is used at Galileo. One big part that the committee is trying to work on is seeing if they can get students involved.
Mr. Reid says, “ AI is one of those things that is changing real fast and we know that a lot of the students know the technology better than some of the adults, and they kind of know what’s going on in different communities that we’re not aware o.f”
Currently the committee only has 3 members, including the Librarian EK, who talked about her role, saying, “My role in the AI committee is as a member. We contribute to the general discussion. I have personally created resources for teachers, and have been involved in discussions about the general usage of AI. AI is a very important tool, but we are still figuring out how to use it. It is still in the very early stages of development, and finding a way to use it for good at our schools would be an excellent thing.”
Speaking more on her overall thoughts about AI, the librarian added, ”I personally think that AI was released to the public too soon. There are lots of obvious flaws. You guys are younger, so AI will be a bigger part of your life than mine. There can be real consequences that you guys will have to deal with, so for all our sakes, I hope that everything will be okay. I noticed that the people who use it the best, are the people that don’t plagiarize, and have good critical thinking skills. I fear people will use it as a tool to cheat, which will make us less effective in terms of writing and reading.”
