JD Furrow, Superintendent

For this month’s superintendent's corner, I am going to cover a topic that I am definitely not an expert in. I don’t know if you are like me, but I have reached the age where change is more than just a little unsettling. If you remember what a Commodore 64 looked like or if you remember playing your favorite music on an 8-track tape, I am guessing you are as uncomfortable as I am with Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Schools are oftentimes the proving ground for new innovation, and the adults in the school are normally two steps behind the kids. So this month’s corner is about how to get the most out of a new tool at our fingertips without replacing the need for original human thought.

First and foremost, we must conquer the fear of change. To this day, I prefer to pull the recipe box out of the cupboard and read the ingredients and instructions in Christi’s handwriting. We have a box with well over 100 family recipes that we rely on. In my hand is a contraption that holds a million options to consider for dinner tonight. When I type into my Google AI mode - What should I make for dinner tonight? - I get four or five options that are quick and easy, another three that are comforting and hearty, and even a couple that are classified as unique and fun. So is AI the devil? It can be, but not always. It is all in how you choose to use it.

The more concerning question is, how is AI impacting education? At a workshop I recently attended, we were told that more than 50% of all papers turned in at college are AI-generated, and more than 60% of all papers turned in are graded by AI. I have no idea how true those numbers are, but just the idea that computers are grading papers that computers wrote is a little disturbing to me. Stories like this make it very hard to trust that we are doing what is best for our students, and that maybe we should question whether or not the next generation is going to have the foundational skills and knowledge to carry on the torch. We cast our judgment over an entire group of people simply because of the age they grew up in. Well… As a school administrator, I have had the opportunity to hire a number of new young professionals, and they are awesome. They relate well to our kids. They work hard. They are driven by purpose and not compensation. We may think that our devices are going to do it all for us, but nothing in the world makes a kid pay attention like a hand on their shoulder. We may think that devices are going to replace teachers just like robots replaced factory workers, but there is nothing more impactful than eye-to-eye contact. Remember, devices don’t mentor, devices don’t show empathy, and devices don’t share in the celebration of accomplishment.

In the history of the world, being afraid of change has never stopped change from happening. I am supremely confident that our upcoming generations will figure out how to use AI to make life better. I know that, as much as technology will try, we cannot be reduced to an algorithm. Creativity, passion, and intelligence (human intelligence) will shape the world. And just because the world doesn’t look the same as the one we grew up in doesn’t inherently make it wrong. Afterall, we don’t put leaded gas into a car that doesn’t have seat belts or power steering anymore.

So when you can’t think of what to fix for dinner tonight, try asking Google, or Alexa, or Gemini.