Fear shouldn't guide our use of technology

Artificial Intelligence (AI). It’s all anyone can talk about it seems. Unless I’m living in an alternate world filled with constant bombardment of Information Technology (IT) concepts, which I admit is highly possible, the average number of times I hear about AI on a daily basis has been increasing for a while. I find it hard to look at the news, turn on the TV, or partake in any kind of social media without seeing something related to AI.

I get it, it’s an important concept set to shape our future and change us, for better or worse, forever. Recently, I heard about efforts at schools and universities for a potential ban on the use of AI. That made me stop cold in my tracks.

Why? Well, to quote the genius that is Lin Manuel Miranda from “Hamilton,” which coincidentally just turned 10 years old, “History has its eyes on you.” The quote was uttered via an incredible song from the actor playing our first President George Washington to the unruly Alexander Hamilton about the fact that history might look upon Washington and judge him harshly for his decisions. I’m here to tell you that the decisions we, as a society, make today are subject to inspection and history might judge us harshly for our decisions. So, let’s think critically before we do something rash be it for, or against, the use of AI, particularly in our schools.

A BIRTHDAY GIFT

Let me back up in my own history over a decade ago for a little relatable story. Lauren, my daughter, had just started middle school. Unfortunate for my twin children, their birthday always fell right around the beginning of school at the end of August. This particular year we had given Lauren an Amazon Kindle for her birthday. A reading device. She was/is an incredible reader able to quickly read and consume massive amounts of information in a short amount of time, unless it was actually pertinent information or information that benefited her parents … but alas, I’m talking about fictional novels and content. I still tell her she should be a writer. One day you’ll see a great best-seller by this incredible human, I promise. Anyway, we had to drop Lauren, and her brother, off at middle school no later than 7:30 a.m. each day to get the workday started. The school allowed for this and corralled the students into the auditorium. This school did not allow the use of electronic devices of any kind. Lauren took her new Kindle to school because she was reading a book she did not want to put down. The staff immediately confiscated the Kindle from Lauren following the school policy.

While I’m always a rule follower, this was a policy that did not feel good to me. Gone was my daughter’s ability to have hundreds of books at her fingertips, feeding her desire to learn and grow as a human. In its place, nothing. She was not going to read a textbook, I assure you. Instead, she had to spend that time each day doing something far less productive than reading her Kindle. To me, this was the wrong decision for the school to make, and we made an effort to help change the rules.

I say all of this to point out that people always fear change. People fear the unknown. People are afraid of technology. It’s daunting. I understand, but the last thing we can do is stop technology from being used in the places we need it the most — our children’s hands.

APPROPRIATE USE OF AI

Instead of a ban on the use of AI in schools, how about the development of appropriate use guidelines that act as guardrails to protect our society, our kids, and ourselves, but still allow for the development and use of the technology? We should embrace the technology and teach our children and future leaders to use the tools to their advantage. I promise that any educator will immediately spot the use of AI, and there’s tools that can help them spot the use of AI.

Let’s teach everyone how to appropriately use AI to help us be better versions of ourselves, while spotting its limitations. No, I do not believe that a college student should be allowed to turn in a 20-page paper that was completely written by AI, but I do believe that a college student should be given the opportunity to allow AI to help them with grammar, punctuation, or finding the resources they need to write the paper, or citing the sources they used in writing the paper, or by challenging their thoughts and asking them to think about the concept a little deeper, a little more eloquently, and help them learn to write with a little more polished feel to it.

If you asked Lauren today what was gained by confiscating her Kindle, she’d probably say, “Nothing, except that sometimes rules do not make sense.” That moment still resonates with me. It reminds me that fear of technology often leads to missed opportunities. So, let’s not let fear guide our decisions. Let’s teach our children, and ourselves, how to use AI responsibly and ethically because history has its eyes on us. The choices we make today will shape the world they inherit tomorrow.