Sample Letter to Parents and Guardians on the Use of AI

A letter to parents and guardians will engage families in the education system’s vision and recommendations for the use of AI in schools. This is an example for illustrative purposes and should be customized.

This is an example of a resource an education system might provide to parents and guardians. 

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) become more prevalent, our school is proactively developing principles to guide the safe, effective, and responsible use of these tools for student learning. After careful consideration, we have established the following principles:

1. 1. Support Education Goals for All: AI will be thoughtfully used to enhance outcomes for every student. 
   2. Privacy & Security: AI use will align with regulations protecting student data privacy, safety, and accessibility.
   3. AI Literacy: Students and teachers will build skills to critically evaluate and utilize AI technologies ethically.
   4. Realize Benefits & Address Risks: We will cautiously explore AI benefits while proactively addressing risks.
   5. Academic Integrity: Students will produce original work and properly credit sources, including AI tools.
   6. Maintain Human Agency: AI will provide support, not replace educator and student discretion in decisions. Our staff will set parameters for each class and assignment for when and how AI systems can be used
   7. Continuous Evaluation: We will routinely audit AI use, updating policies and training as needed.

We remind parents and guardians that AI tools may have age restrictions. For example, ChatGPT currently requires users to be at least 13 years old and requires parental or legal guardian consent for students between the ages of 13 and 18. The website warns that “ChatGPT may produce output that is not appropriate for all audiences or all ages and educators should be mindful of that while using it with students or in classroom contexts.”

Our goal is to create a learning environment where AI technologies empower rather than replace the human aspects of education. We embrace these technologies cautiously to prepare students for a future where these technologies are everywhere. Please reach out with any questions or input on these principles as we navigate this rapidly changing terrain together. We thank you for your support.

Sincerely
[Name]
[Title]​

End of Example Resource

AI Guidance for Schools Toolkit © 2023 by Code.org, CoSN, Digital Promise, European EdTech Alliance, and PACE is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0