The Swampscott School Committee was given an update on the current use of artificial-intelligence technology within the district at its latest meeting.
Swampscott Public Schools Director of Technology, Digital Learning, and Innovation Lytania Mackey Knowles joined the committee virtually to lead a presentation that explained how AI is used and regulated, as she outlined various programs in the district that implement it.
Mackey Knowles explained Thursday that due to age restrictions on a large portion of AI tools for students younger than 13 years old, the district’s programs are focused on the high school and eighth grade.
“ChatGPT is open for the high-school students to explore right now,” Mackey Knowles said. “And Canva, which has AI.”
She added that many students have most likely accessed similar AI software already, as the social-media application Snapchat added an AI feature within the last year.
Mackey Knowles gave a demonstration of a tool known as Magic School that is being used by teachers.
“This is something that teachers are loving,” Mackey Knowles said. “This is really helpful in an era where we are getting possibly new literacy programs and teachers are learning how to teach things.”
She also used a tool called the Text Leveler that can not only summarize information, but adjust the reading difficulty level.
She continued to emphasize that the main goal of incorporating AI is to improve “AI literacy” among teachers and students. The presentation defined the term as “the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are associated with how AI works, including its principles, concepts, and applications.”
“What happens when you talk to Siri or Alexa?” Mackey Knowles asked rhetorically.
She explained that machine-learning curriculum is integrated into the district’s computer-science programs, but should not be limited to that discipline.
She made sure to outline the risks of AI as well, most prominently those of potential privacy issues and unauthorized data collection.
“That’s the thing with AI, everything you put into ChatGPT, Bard, all of these programs, if you put in a student’s name, and you put in any information, that’s out there,” Mackey Knowles said.
She gave credit to Digital Learning Manager Kerri O’Donnell for her role in ensuring that privacy agreements are made with program vendors.
Members of the committee expressed gratitude for Mackey Knowles’s assistance in helping them further understand the concept of AI. Committee member Glenn Paster raised the topics of deepfake videos and voice manipulation, and Mackey Knowles said that expanding awareness of those risks among students is a priority for the near future.
“You cannot trust videos anymore, and you can’t trust photos,” Mackey Knowles said.
