ChatGPT, CoPilot, Perplexity – oh my! This is a technologically overwhelming time in human history. But is that completely true? To some folks who had the majority of their lives without technology would probably be quite overwhelmed. Myself and some of my colleagues are not as surprised.

I grew up hearing the dial up tone for internet. It wasn’t until I was a bit older do I remember having a clunky and chunky computer in our house. What makes me less adverse to the idea of generative AI was seeing the introduction to social media. Though we were fed significantly damaging information about our self worth, body image and anything else, we were connected to places we may never get to travel to.

I am under the feeling that AI is just like any other new technology that had been introduced to our world. I’m sure people felt the same way about short circuiting education when the internet came out. And look at us now – well, our society, specifically my generation, are over-educated and under-employed… BUT, there are tools we have gathered through it all. I think our society hasn’t completely shifted to accommodate new technology like AI in meaningful ways. There’s always time. But, people are getting more and more impatient as we keep developing things that give us answers immediately.

A perplexing thought I’ve had is on the access of this technology. On one hand, (and at the same time a reason this can create inequalities) is that there are still a lot of people who do not have access to these tools. In my mind, so long as this is the reality, the slower we may progress to being reliant on it. However, the other hand is the fear that the “Western” world will take this technology and run past others, furthering separating ourselves from the rest of the world. However, I can’t see how that would be beneficial nor democratic.

So I suppose we be careful with this technology. We have to walk with this technology like we have with all others and help the next generation be mindful of its downfalls. I can see the benefit in using AI as a tool to teach children how to be articulate in their questioning. This is a big piece of the social studies curriculum in BC. I had some experimenting with this in my grade 2/3 class. I included a “Know, Wonder, Learn” aspect in my course that encouraged them to ask questions about the world. Though they were a bit too young for AI and even to ask appropriate questions, I can see how important it is to spark curiosity in children of all ages. If we can use AI to harness curiosity, I can see it being a benefit.

For now, it is clear that school boards don’t know what to do with this technology either. Knowing that Perplexity does not need a log in making it more private gives me hope there will be proper policy in place for schools to use the tech. In this article, it seems as though teachers across Canada have simply been waiting for their boards to find something that works. That is why we have school boards after all. Though I don’t love the Toronto Star or really, the Ontario school board, the article offers good insight to the conversations being had about AI in schools.

Maybe if this is too overwhelming for you, reader, I have put together a bit of a mindmap on the uses of AI. Check it out! Leave a comment of your thoughts on using AI in classrooms!