As artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT become more accessible, some researchers believe the technology may soon find its way into everyday classroom instruction.
Representatives from federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the National Economic Council, gathered last month at the White House for Computer Science Education Week to discuss the integration of AI into K-12 classrooms.
Among them was Carol Fletcher, director of Expanding Pathways in Computing at the Texas Advanced Computing Center at UT. Fletcher said the center runs one of the most powerful supercomputers in academia and works with the Pathways program to broaden access and participation in computing education.
The team at the White House discussed a national strategy to encourage participation in computer science in K-12 and how AI would be taught in schools, Fletcher said.
“With the advent of AI becoming more pervasive in decisions that are made (like) who gets a loan (or) examining criminal histories, we need to ensure that every student understands the implications and is better able to navigate those decisions,” Fletcher said.
Educators have started to use AI as a tool to grade more efficiently, such as with AI-generated rubrics, Fletcher said. For students, large language models like ChatGPT may help with generating starter code for computer programs.
Vishal Kantharaju, vice president of Engineering and Computational Learning of Artificial Intelligence in Robotics, or ECLAIR, said AI helped the club create a robot that plays and teaches chess as well as a mood detector program. The software analyzes text and generates music corresponding with the words’ implied “vibe.”
“AI tools that are available to students make the learning curve so much more accessible,” computer science sophomore Kantharaju said. “It’s important for students to make an effort to look into AI and learn more about it.”
Computer science professor Justin Hart said he encourages his students in the Freshman Research Initiative program to use AI in order to help with starter code for open-ended research projects.
“Students should absolutely be taking advantage of these large language models as long as there is no violation or academic misconduct,” Hart said.
Hart said academic misconduct and plagiarism have important ethical implications educators and students must be aware of as AI becomes increasingly prevalent in the classroom.
As AI begins to integrate itself into the many different aspects of students’ lives, it is important to stay informed on its potential misuse and beneficial effects, ECLAIR co-president Angelica Sharma said.
“I think everyone should be encouraged to gain a background in AI and computing,” computer science sophomore Sharma said. “It’s important that we spend money, education and time towards computer science because that’s what’s going to save lives in the future.”
