Oklahoma schools navigate artificial intelligence
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Artificial intelligence is the way of the future.
Whether it's to code something, solve complex math problems, or write an essay, the new artificial intelligence program, ChatGPT, will create something unique for you.
The question now is, how will Oklahoma navigate this level of AI in the classroom?
“It's suddenly in our everyday digital lives, but it came with no instruction manual for educators," Zenia Kish, assistant professor of Media Studies at the University of Tulsa, said. "So we're still scrambling to figure it out.”
ChatGPT is redefining the classroom.
“It can be used to write essays now," said Thomas Fellows, ChatGPT researcher and author. "It can also be used to, you know, pass law school, pass medical school, and so forth, which is very scary.”
Some schools across the nation are pushing back against the program.
“A lot of faculty I know and many of my colleagues are very concerned about what we lose in our education system when we jump too quickly into using these technologies and everything that we do," Kish said.
“What is lost for students in their education and in the development of their critical thinking skills, when more and more of their work is being handed over to these technologies?"
Others think it’s best to embrace AI and integrate it into the classrooms.
“In English and in history and anywhere you can use ChatGPT you should let the students," Fellows said.
“This is going to be the reality that students are graduating into in many workforces and so they're trying to learn how to work with it," Kish said.
Fellows compares ChatGPT to calculators.
In classroom settings, teachers often ban them to encourage the student to do the work, but he says in the real world you have easy access to a calculator, just like they will ChatGPT.
“I would not completely ban ChatGPT because you're gonna be able to use it in the workforce," Fellows said. “We've got to do a better job of preparing our students for the actual workforce instead of merely just to pass tests and so forth. There's a severe disconnect between what we're teaching our kids in school, especially in college and getting prepared for the workforce.”
University of Oklahoma declined an on-camera interview on how they are navigating AI in the classroom, but offered a statement saying the university is “evaluating ChatGPT and have not yet established a policy.”
Oklahoma State University wasn’t available for an interview.
Tulsa University hasn’t set any policies but says faculty are working together to navigate best practices.
I reached out to Tulsa Public Schools to learn how this will impact grade school programs, but they did not respond to our request for an interview.