DENVER — Artificial intelligence (AI) in K-12 schools was the focus of a first-of-its-kind summit in Denver on Thursday.
Teachers, administrators and technology experts met at Denver Public Schools headquarters to discuss best practices, uses, and pitfalls in education.
“We’re asking what is that world going to look like when we’re trying to prepare students for jobs that don’t even exist yet,” said Dr. Richard Charles, chief information officer for Denver Public Schools.
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At Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College in northeast Denver, there are more than 30 languages spoken among the student body, making communication a constant challenge.
“Just translating the words wasn’t enough because now you’re asking these teenagers to read everything all day, which is kind of unfair,” said teacher Benjamin Isaac. “I don’t think anybody likes to read that much when they don’t get to choose what they’re reading about.”
When Isaac was having trouble connecting with an Afghani student, he went to HeyGen, an AI-powered video site, and created an avatar of himself speaking the student’s language.
“Just the idea of getting to create this avatar on this website that looked like me — and more importantly had my voice — was a game changer for her. It was one of those moments where I was like, ‘I’m not crying, you are.’ But yeah, it got me because she was so sincerely excited hearing me, her teacher who she interacts with daily, speaking her language. She was so happy, and I was so happy to do that for her.”
Isaac was one of the featured speakers at the AI summit.
AI can certainly be useful in classrooms, but it can also be disruptive and dangerous to the learning process, which is why experts say — like any new technology — it must have guardrails.
“There are ways that this could go terribly wrong, but the benefits for teachers and operational organizations within school districts is tremendous,” Charles said.
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According to a recent study presented at the summit, one million new AI jobs will be created in the U.S. by 2027.
“And it’s only going to get faster and better with time,” Charles said.
For Isaac and all of the educators in attendance, this is an opportunity to talk about the technology and do their best to prepare for what’s to come.
“I’m sure there was a lot of pushback from math teachers and mathematicians when the calculator was first introduced, and now we don’t even really think about it,” Isaac said. “You can use this as a tool to build your intelligence rather than a tool to replace it.”
