Implementing AI into a school district is a big decision to make. Often, the purpose of the AI is to handle mundane and menial processes so that users don’t have to, which can require a bit of learning and data input for the AI to properly do its job. However, giving a platform access to that data–especially if it’s student-related–can result in unforeseen situations, much like the issues Los Angeles Unified School District is currently facing.
LAUSD invested $6 million with AllHere Education for the development of an AI chatbot named “Ed,” only to have AllHere subsequently cite financial issues and shutdown, forcing the district to abandon the chatbot. Now the question is: what happens to all of the data inputted into the chatbot to help both students and teachers?
While what will happen remains to be seen, LAUSD’s experience can help school districts understand what they can do to avoid a similar situation.
Ken Shelton, Educational Strategist and Instructional Designer, shares his insights into what a school district needs to know before deciding on what AI tool to use, and how to avoid a situation in which they may no longer be in complete control of their own sensitive data.
Understand Your Needs
As with most tools and services being added to a school district, an important part of the vetting process happens before you begin to research any potential vendors. Shelton says knowing what you need is half of the battle.
“If you’re looking at an AI platform or AI functionality within an existing platform that you have,” says Shelton, “[you need to understand] what your educational goals are and how that resource helps you accomplish those goals of which humans are incapable of doing themselves.”
It’s also important that you’re using a platform to solve a problem and not looking for problems to solve with your platform.
“The way I looked at it, oftentimes platforms are acquired, and the metaphor I use is that it’s a hammer looking for a nail,” Shelton says. “That’s where the marketing strategy of a lot of companies, good or bad, is. The over promise.”
As a school or a district, understanding your specific needs can help avoid having unnecessary systems in possession of critical private information.
Understand How AI Works
Another aspect that could assist in the search for a problem-solving tool is having a better understanding of how AI works. As Shelton points out, having basic digital literacy can help make this part of the process easier to manage. And that begins with how your school district views internet privacy.
“You should have no expectation of privacy the minute your phone or computer connects to the internet,” says Shelton. “So if you know that, then that might influence some of the ways in which you use certain platforms, what information you understand you’re giving up. I don’t know of any [school district] at the moment that doesn’t have some sort of guidelines around digital citizenship. But I always ask the question: ‘Help me understand the difference between responsible use and digital citizenship.’”
Knowing how to use an AI product and whether you should are two different trains of thought. However, being able to distinguish between the two can help keep you well-informed about what AI tools should be used and how to best protect your students’ private data.
Knowing the problem and solving the problem are important, but making sure that the solution you implement continues to work as intended is just as crucial. Once you decide on an AI tool and put it to work, you need to constantly monitor it to make sure it is being used responsibly or, in some cases, at all. Should a tool no longer be of use, you can then make an informed decision as to whether to keep making it available or not.
As Shelton points out, having a defined process for implementing any AI tool is critical.
“Be proactive in piloting, testing, and refining AI tools,” says Shelton. “Advocate for continuous monitoring to ensure that [an AI tool] delivers on its promise without unintended harm. That should be part of the cycle: pilot, test, refine.”
By establishing that ongoing process for an AI platform, you’ll always know what it’s doing, how it’s interacting with the information you provide, if it’s working as intended, and whether you still need it down the road. Keeping up with this cycle can also help to avoid any unwelcome outcomes with your information.