A Student's Plea: An Open Letter to Educators About AI

I am a student, and I am deeply concerned about the future of our education.

Many of us students are using AI tools like ChatGPT to a degree that educators are increasingly aware of. More and more students are delegating their critical thinking tasks to AI, using it to stay ahead or allocate time elsewhere. At the same time, AI presents a huge potential for transforming the education landscape. The question then becomes — how should students and educators collaboratively navigate this new frontier?

What skills should students be learning when many jobs are set to undergo a complete transformation in the near future? How can educators use AI to enrich teaching practices and deliver personalized education? How should educators decide the extent to which students should rely on AI in classrooms? What do educators need to know about AI to make decisions regarding the content and methodology of their teaching? As AI becomes increasingly prevalent in education, how can we guarantee equal access to and education about these tools for all students?

From the interviews I did in the past few weeks, there’s a range of opinions on the way forward, from minor curriculum tweaks to radical overhauls of the entire education system. However, what remains constant is a sense of urgency and a desire for collaborative dialogue involving educators, AI experts, students, parents, and administrators.

To spark this conversation, I’ve put together a team of volunteering students and recent alumni from the University of Illinois and Stanford University. We are in the process of organizing a two-day online conference titled “AI x Education Conference: Generating the Future of Education with AI”. Our aim is to create a platform for all stakeholders to share experiences, demystify AI, explore innovative solutions, and foster collaborations. A key feature of our conference will be incorporating the student perspective — an often overlooked but essential element in understanding AI’s role in education.

But we need your help to make this a success. If you’re an educator using AI such as ChatGPT in your classroom, we invite you to share your insights as a panelist. Students, we welcome you to volunteer as panel moderators, bridging the gap between students and educators in this dialogue. School administrators, we’d appreciate your help in connecting us with more educators to promote this event. K-12 teachers, we’d love to hear about your experiences adjusting to AI in classrooms through interviews. If you have advice on engaging topics or strategies to reach a wider audience, please don’t hesitate to share.

You can register as an attendee, help us spread the word, or find out more about our conference on our website. Please leave a comment or send me a private message for further collaboration.

Conference Link: https://www.aixeducation.com/