AI has made an Olympic-sized splash in its arrival in Warren County, and teachers need to be tuned in to both its promises and pitfalls.
Warren County Director of Schools Dr. Grant Swallows raised the hurricane alert flag about AI (artificial intelligence) when he welcomed teachers to their first district-wide professional development day Thursday.
The Warren County Middle School auditorium was filled nearly to capacity as teachers gathered for the initial in-service training for 2024-25. Swallows emceed a fast-paced variety show, with game show segments enlivening serious instruction.
AI is a constellation of powerful and expanding computer programs that can accelerate facial recognition and write college-level research papers. ChatGP, released in 2022, excited and amazed professional critics as it raced through complex problems, often producing results that competed with the best products of human mental toil.
The technology can scan thousands of high-quality research papers in a matter of seconds, and write a well-refenced and persuasive summary in a matter of seconds. Cell phone text messaging and word processing software uses entry-level — and sometimes unreliable AI — to anticipate and fill in the next word in your mind before you touch the keys.
There’s no turning back from AI or ignoring its pervasive effects, Swallows insisted. So let’s embrace the technology but with awareness and caution, recognizing its potential in supporting the teaching-and-learning process while guarding against the possible hazards and abuses.
Some students might be tempted to let AI write that term paper late on the night before it’s due. Why spend all that time doing the research, then struggling with the rules of grammar and English composition to put into a passable homework project?
Swallows called on the teachers to help students learn to use AI to facilitate study and research while avoiding the temptation to employ the technology to cheat.
The schools chief acknowledged that perfecting that kind of student guidance is a work in progress, and he invited teachers to collaborate with the peers and consult with district leadership in refining their individual approach to walking the fine line between appropriate AI use and the potential for abuse.
Early in the in-service day Swallows saluted teachers for their years of classroom service. Five years. Ten years. Twenty years. And then 30 years. They were asked to stand and receive the applause of their peers.
At last, he called on all first-year teachers to rise and be recognized. In a spontaneous gesture of welcome and acceptance, Warren County’s professional educators honored them with enthusiastic and sustained applause.
