Policy Ideas

Foundational policies can support educators, staff, students, and parents in engaging with AI in a manner that augments, rather than replaces, the human touch.

Foster Leadership

An AI in education task force can help foster leadership by appointing AI experts, educators, staff, administrators, parents, students, and policymakers with diverse perspectives to help shape legislation, regulation, and guidance. It is crucial that practicing educators are selected as key voices in the task force. The task force should recommend policies, oversee pilot programs, and monitor unintended consequences to steer AI adoption aligned to the education system’s goals.

Promote AI Literacy

AI literacy combines understanding how AI works, including its principles, concepts, and applications, with how to use AI, such as its limitations, implications, and ethical considerations. AI literacy involves the responsible use of AI tools across all subjects and the study of foundational subjects such as computer science, data science, ethics, psychology, and statistics.

Education systems should consider various approaches to promoting AI literacy, including integrating AI concepts and practices into relevant existing academic standards. AI literacy prepares students to be informed consumers of AI and the future creators of technologies that utilize AI. 

Provide Guidance

Clear and practical national, state, and local AI guidelines can empower schools to harness AI's potential benefits while ensuring student privacy and responsible usage. Early guidance should address issues such as prioritizing equitable access to AI tools, minimizing bias, utilizing legally and ethically created training sets and models, reaffirming adherence to existing privacy and security policies, and maintaining human decision-making. With robust guidance, education systems can improve safety and enhance consistency in classroom adoption.

As of August 2024, twenty-four U.S. states have published AI guidance: AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IN, KY, LA, MN, MS, NC, ND, NJ, OH, OK, OR, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV and WY, as well as Puerto Rico. See the TeachAI AI Guidance for Schools Toolkit.  Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States are some of the countries that have published national guidance on AI in education.

Build Capacity

Dedicated funding for high-quality professional development for administrators, teachers, and support staff can build systemwide capacity for the responsible and effective integration of AI in education. Ongoing professional development should cover how AI works, including its limitations and ethical considerations, and how to use AI to complement teaching practices. These experiences should also be made available in teacher preparation programs.

Support Innovation

Understanding what tools and practices are effective for safely and responsibly introducing AI in schools is essential. Funding research and development at every stage of AI integration, including pilot programs and evaluation, can help educators and staff make informed, research-based decisions.

Singapore’s AI Centre for Educational Technologies and Israel’s Institute for Applied Research of AI and Education support research and innovation.

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 Foundational Policy Ideas for AI in Education

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