Reporter's Notebook: Lawmakers wrestle over whether AI can make the grade in America's classrooms

Reading. Writing. And AI algorithms.

The Senate is now wrestling with how students — and teachers — might use Artificial Intelligence in the classroom.

It’s inevitable.

"The question is not whether AI is going to impact education. The real question is whether we will shape its use thoughtfully. Responsibly," said Delaware Secretary of Education Cindy Marten during a recent Senate hearing.

Lawmakers are focusing not just on what AI teaches students. But how.

"What do we know when it comes to long term cognitive impact of the use of this technology?" asked Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., at the hearing.

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"We have no causal studies on long term impact on social or cognitive development," replied Erin Mote, who, as CEO of InnovateEDU and the EDSAFE AI Alliance, works on technological innovation in the classroom.

Pushing students onto screens, iPads and Chromebooks in the classroom was all the rage about 12 years ago. But since that rush to technology, the percentage of high school seniors performing at grade level in math and reading is down four points from 2009, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NEAP), sometimes known as the report card of the nation.

"The students did not learn the content better and their social and emotional health has suffered greatly. We need to ensure as we move forward teaching about and with AI that we do not become overly tech reliant and that critical thinking skills remain imperative" said David Slykhuis of Valdosta State University at a House hearing earlier this year.

That’s why lawmakers are skeptical that AI can boost classroom performance.

"Kids have outsourced critical thinking. Have outsourced friendship. Have even outsourced moral advice to AI," said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

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There are also privacy concerns. AI can glean what each student learns and knows.

AI could harvest what lessons they’ve covered. How fast students picked up different concepts. AI or data brokers could then track that for decades as students head to college or even enter the workforce.

"These tools are getting more access to more information about our students that we may not even be aware of," warned Marten.

Teachers are already leaning on AI to develop lesson plans and grade papers. Elementary teachers can certainly deploy AI to grade simple multiplication tables and spelling. But it could spell trouble if teachers or professors use an AI rubric to grade subjective assignments such as creative writing or a term paper.

"For those that start using AI, there's a tendency to trust everything that it spits out that can create serious problems," said Joshua Jones at the Senate hearing. He’s CEO of QuantHub, an education AI literacy firm.

Some lawmakers doubt that AI can do everything. And some aspects of education are hard to copy.

"The foundational relationship between a child and a teacher is not something that AI is going to recreate. It's not something that I will substitute for," said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

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Educators want to know how AI may shift their roles. And if the concept of a "teacher" or a "professor," tomorrow is the same as what we think of today.

"The idea of pulling that away is probably really scary to teachers who think this is what teaching looks like. But we know that it's not an effective way for teaching or for learning. And so it's going to require some real ecosystem shifts," said educator Emily Cherkin, who has written about AI.

Graduating college seniors showered several tech CEOs with a chorus of boos at commencement exercises around the country this spring. The reason? These students may have earned a diploma. But they wonder if that’s sufficient for gainful employment in the age of AI.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently met with a host of bipartisan lawmakers at the Capitol about their hopes and fears about AI.

"I understand that college students have a lot of anxiety about the future," said Altman. "I think there will be a lot of jobs in the future. I think that the impact on jobs has been less than many people in our field expected. And it doesn't mean that it will always stay that way in the future."

Moreover, students may question the value of an education if they can’t get work due to artificial intelligence.

"(High school seniors) were saying that they can't find jobs. Saying that 30 to 40 percent of them are unemployed and they blame AI for this," said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. "We've got to make some choices about AI to make sure it actually is good for the American workforce. And I think a lot college grads don't think it is."

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Hawley believes Congress should take action on AI. But not in the ways you might think.

"We ought to pass legislation right now that would require these tech companies to turn over the data on how many jobs they're creating or how many they're destroying," said Hawley.

Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., is one of the leading voices in Congress on AI. He recently helped draft a bipartisan framework for legislation to regulate AI. Obernolte says he hears what college students are saying.

"It's an indication that we collectively have done a terrible job at articulating to the American public the optimistic case for AI deployment," said Obernolte. "AI will probably be the most powerful tool for enhancing human productivity that we have ever invented. And that will not only have positive economic consequences for our country and our world, but could create this rising wave of prosperity that literally lifts all the boats."

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wants to pass an AI regulation bill by the end of the year. But the Congressional calendar is especially clogged. The House skipped out of town a day early this week. Even next week’s schedule may be in jeopardy thanks to a dispute over the SAVE America Act. That’s the GOP bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote.

But it’s unclear how a bill may address the specifics of AI in the classroom.

That means AI may continue unbridled in primary, secondary and even collegiate education.

And unless lawmakers move fast, AI may school us all.