How to encourage smarter AI use in the classroom
This article is from Making AI Work, MIT Technology Review’s limited-run newsletter examining how to apply LLMs across industries. To receive it in your inbox, sign up here. Chatbots took many schools by surprise upon their release a few years ago. Suddenly, students carried an app in their phones that could magically answer almost any…
This article, published in MIT Technology Review’s Making AI Work newsletter, explores how schools can responsibly incorporate generative AI tools like chatbots and AI-powered platforms into their classrooms. While chatbots caught many schools off guard when they first emerged, teachers often recognize when a student is using AI and can identify the simple giveaways of AI-generated text.
However, the AI boom has increased the workload for educators, who must now adapt to this new technology in addition to their existing responsibilities. Organizations such as OpenAI and UNESCO advocate for AI use in the classroom, yet many teachers feel uncertain about how to handle it effectively.
At Cheshire Academy, a private boarding and day school in Connecticut with around 400 students in grades 9 through 12, administrators do not mandate the use of AI, but most teachers have already started incorporating it into their work. The school has taken a flexible approach by offering a variety of tools for teachers to experiment with, ranging from general-purpose chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity to more specialized platforms like MagicSchool, designed specifically for educators.
MagicSchool, for example, aids teachers in generating various materials such as quizzes, assignments, presentations, lesson plans, and even administrative reports. Teachers input specific prompts to customize each task, whether they require unlimited access to all features or prefer the more affordable free version.
Despite these offerings, some educators remain hesitant to use LLMs to create student-facing text due to concerns about quality, personalization, and privacy. MagicSchool does provide tools for other purposes, such as lesson planning, for those willing to pay a small annual fee.
To counter misinformation and promote healthy AI use, educators at Cheshire Academy have developed strategies like labeling assignments with color-coded traffic lights to indicate AI usage. Green allows full AI freedom, yellow permits some tools while prohibiting others, and red bans all AI use. This system encourages reflection on AI’s appropriate and beneficial applications within the community.
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