Rita Astafeva, Sunset freshman

One of the biggest current controversies in education is Artificial Intelligence (AI). Does it have the potential to completely change the educational system? Instead of speculating, we spoke with Sunset High School teachers themselves to see what the general consensus on AI is among real educators.

For some context, as AI assistant tools like Google Gemini^® and ChatGPT^® are becoming better and more accurate, many teachers are concerned about AI replacing learning. To combat this in the Beaverton School District, middle schools like Stoller, Tumwater, and Meadow Park have blocked AI sites on the school issued Chromebooks, teachers are putting every assignment through AI-detectors, and students are constantly reminded of the severe consequences that they will face should they get caught.

Mrs. Sather teaches literature and composition to 9th and 11th grade students. She agreed to answer a few of our questions:

What are some changes you have noticed in students’ learning process since the introduction of ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.?

One of the biggest differences I have noticed between the kids pre-AI and post-AI is the way they find information. Before there was unlimited access to AI tools they would collaborate with each other and use their critical thinking skills to solve problems. Now, I am seeing that as soon as there is a word they don’t know they would rather ask AI than figure it out or ask a classmate.

What are some strategies you use in your classroom to prevent students from submitting AI generated work? What is your confidence in these strategies?

Trust. I know that it is not always possible, but I try to trust my students to be able to make the right decisions for themselves. I make it a goal to explain why this subject matters and why they should put personal effort into their work rather than having AI doing it for them. Of course, this won’t stop students from trying to cheat, so we use multiple AI checkers. The district has recently started using a new checker that seems to be working better than the ones before. Of course, this is still not perfect, but my confidence is still pretty high since I can see that most of students this year genuinely try their best, especially since the consequences for using AI are being reviewed for next year to make them more strict.

Do you believe that responsible use of AI exists?

This one is very difficult to answer. I find AI very fascinating and there are certain classes where AI can be used as a very helpful tool. As a language arts teacher, though, I would have to say that there are very few ethical ways in which AI can be used in my classroom. So yes, I do believe that there are certain situations in which AI can be used ethically, but there are many others in which AI should not be used.

Another teacher that we interviewed is Mr. McComb who teaches multiple classes in the business department.

As a business teacher, how do you use AI in your class?

We often see AI as a one-sided tool that can only be used for cheating, but in my class I aim to not only focus on the way AI can help students cheat, but also on how it can be utilized as a helpful tool. Our main use of AI is to generate original logos for some of our projects, which makes the job a lot easier than hand drawing a new image every time we do a business project.

Do you believe that responsible use of AI exists?

Yes, I do believe that AI can be used in an ethical way. Right now, we are telling students that they should never use AI, but I find that this is not setting up kids for success. At this point, AI is the most limited it will ever be and it will only improve from here, so we might as well give kids the tools they need to use it responsibly.

After interviewing multiple teachers at Sunset, we have concluded that educators do not all view AI as the evil technology we often make it out to be. Yes, it can be used for cheating and teachers have noticed it replacing real learning, but at the same time, they admit that in certain situations AI is a unique tool that can be used for good.

As for the future actions, both Mr. McComb and Mrs. Sather agree that we should continue to teach students about using this technology responsibly. After all, it doesn’t really matter how much we like or dislike AI, it will continue to develop, so it is best to set students up for success by teaching them how to use AI because this is the reality that they will have to live with.