Teachers’ union wants guidelines for AI use in the classroom

Teachers’ union AOb wants national guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom, because schools and teachers are still insufficiently aware of its implications.

Recent figures from Statistics Netherlands show that 23% of people over the age of 12 have used programs like ChatGPT, with a peak among users between the ages of 18 and 25. This could be a disadvantage for older teachers.

According to research from the University of Amsterdam, 74% of young people between the ages of 16 and 24 have used generative AI in the past year. But 74% of people aged 25 and older have never tried to generate text or photos with AI, the study found.

“We already use AI in the classroom, but we don’t yet know how to approach it as an educational tool,” AOb vice-chair Jelmer Evers told broadcaster NOS. “There are significant risks. By using it in schools, it becomes normalized and that means we need to know what impact it has, especially because we are dealing with young people,” he said.

There is not much research into the impact of AI on education, but there are indications that CHatGPT is being used to take over student work without teachers noticing.

“Clear guidelines help to raise awareness,” Evers said. “Some providers, for example, are not known for their ethical standards. Do you want sensitive student data going to them? Or should you choose another provider?”

Evers said he doesn’t think AI in education is necessarily bad. “But there are currently no frameworks for its use. We spent a long time on a directive to ban phones and we can learn from that,” he told the announcer.

The union is already working on the guidelines and would also like input from the Ministry of Education.

In response, State Secretary for Education Mariëlle Paul acknowledged that “the rapid development of AI may give rise to concerns,” but did not say whether she accepted or rejected the idea for guidelines.

According to her, the key to its use lies with teachers, who can call on the resources that are already available, such as the Dutch AI coalition and the expertise center for digital literacy.