The district announced yesterday that students will have access to Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools on district devices starting second semester. These tools will include ChatGPT and Google Bard when it becomes available for student accounts.
You have to know where the line is of using it as an efficiency benefit or plagiarizing where you should be creating an original work,
— Dr. Michael Wegener, associate principal
A Canvas course will be required for all students. MHS students will complete the course during Mod 1 of Ac Lab on Thursday, Jan. 18. The AI resources will become available to students on Thursday, Feb. 1.
In an email to students and staff, Bob Deneau, chief information officer, highlighted three major benefits of AI for students: personalized learning and tutoring capabilities, brainstorming help and real-time feedback.
Associate Principal Dr. Michael Wegener said the main benefit of AI for students is efficiency.
“There are things that you can create with AI that might take longer to research the topic,” Dr. Wegener said.
AI has created difficulties in the past when students have plagiarized assignments, but Wegener said the new Canvas course will be valuable in educating students to be more responsible with the tools.
“You have to know where the line is of using it as an efficiency benefit or plagiarizing where you should be creating an original work,” Dr. Wegener said.
Jackson Brusatti, senior, said he understands why the district has made this decision.
“Honestly, I’m not surprised that they’re integrating AI,” Brusatti said. “It’s just such a big part of outside learning as well, and it’s a big part of the tech industry now.”
While Brusatti said he understands the risks of implementing AI in the classroom, like potential student misuse, he views the addition to the curriculum as an overall positive.
“I think teachers will definitely use it to help with their lesson planning, as well as helping students to get a foothold on assignments. If they don’t understand part of the assignment, they can ask AI, ‘hey, what does this mean?’ It’ll help them understand assignments better and it’ll also help them get a head start,” Brusatti said.
Brittany Sharitz, librarian, said the library may offer additional sessions for students interested in learning more about AI.
“The librarians’ view on AI is that it should be taught to students as a tool to prepare them for the future,” Sharitz said.
Sharitz said AI can be used as an educational tool in many ways including an idea generator and student planner.
“Our intellect is something that we need to value and protect as a society,” Shartiz said. “There are many fields that we don’t want computers to take over like music, art and creative writing.”
