Microsoft is working with the American Federation of Teachers to work out how best to use AI in the classroom

Microsoft and two influential U.S. teaching unions have reached an agreement on AI usage within education across America. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) collaborated with Microsoft after months of negotiations. Previously, attempts to pass federal legislation for AI protection in schools had failed. Consequently, the teaching unions introduced legally-binding rules with Microsoft, covering the use of AI in schools.

The National AI Safety & Privacy Standard outlined in the agreement prohibits the use of student or teacher data to train or enhance AI models. Any collected data will not be monetized, aiming to strike a balance between reducing screen time and managing technology use across various age groups. This agreement follows localized actions like a moratorium on AI use in the New York City school system and a similar ban in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

AFT President Randi Weingarten emphasized, "We have forged a hard-fought, iron-clad privacy agreement with real teeth that protects students and families... We can get angrier and angrier, or we can act decisively." The AFT and UFT's concerns encompass teacher comfort, focus, and the ability to conduct lessons without AI intrusions.

The National AI Safety & Privacy Standard addresses issues such as training data, monetization, screen time, and other AI-related challenges. It ensures three primary goals: protecting children's privacy and data, granting schools real control over AI tools in the classroom, and providing transparency and information to parents.

The guardrails established by the agreement focus on protecting educators, parents, and students' privacy, enhancing student and educator safety, and offering transparency and control over AI usage in schools. This includes details about data collection, protections in place, schools' control over data use, storage, and deletion, and human oversight of AI systems.

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith stated that the standard sets a high bar for child privacy and AI safety, and they plan to extend the agreement to all school districts across the country. Furthermore, the AFT is currently negotiating with OpenAI and Anthropic to adopt the National AI Safety & Privacy Standard.