New York City public schools are planning to embrace artificial intelligence tech with open arms — alarming critics who warn that it could set kids up to be indoctrinated by left-wing political bias.
During a City Council hearing Thursday, Department of Education officials gushed that the agency aspires to be a “global leader” in using generative artificial intelligence tools to educate students.
“We’re embracing AI as an important lever for us to continue dismantling inequitable systems, cultures, policies, mindsets, and behaviors that impede communities from civic and cultural participation, employment, and lifelong learning,” said Melanie Mac, director of DOE’s Office of Student Pathways.
Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) told The Post after the hearing that while it’s important the city embrace new technology, “unchecked AI integration in our education system risks the indoctrination of our students.
“We must establish clear regulations for AI before allowing its widespread use in schools and our daily lives.”
Maud Maron, co-president of Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education NYC and a former Democratic congressional candidate, said kids shouldn’t rely on ChatGPT or similar tools to write reports and do other schoolwork.
“It’s heavily biased, so kids should not be using AI for information gathering because there’s a very . . . liberal slant,” said Maron.
“It’s like going to Wikipedia as a source of information. It’s not the . . . Encyclopedia Britannica that I grew up with. It’s people’s point of views and perspectives and, of course, has a bias.”
ChatGPT’s widely popular AI service has shown a clear bias toward the Democratic Party and other liberal viewpoints, according to a recent study conducted by the UK-based University of East Anglia.
ChatGPT has already drawn sharp scrutiny for demonstrating political biases, such as its refusal to write a story about Hunter Biden in the style of The New York Post but accepting a prompt to do so as if it were left-leaning CNN.
The DOE briefly banned ChatGPT use in January over concerns it would fuel cheating.
But it reversed the decision months later, leaving its use up to individual schools’ discretion.
The department is currently partnering with Microsoft to provide a custom AI-powered teaching assistant for its classrooms.
Councilwoman Rita Joseph (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the education committee, said during the hearing that her concern over AI stems in part from city schools having “inadequate computer science instruction and lack of certified computer teachers.”
She introduced a nonbinding resolution two weeks ago calling on the DOE to mandate teachers be trained on how to use AI Chatbot tools “for potential classroom implementation.”
Some Council members at the hearing demanded the DOE put strict guidelines in place to protect against misuse, such as invading people’s privacy. Others later said they hope the agency doesn’t try to replace teachers with AI.
“It should not be seen as a way to replace any jobs, but instead as a way to augment them and make our educators more productive by freeing up otherwise time-consuming processes like grading homework, for example,” said Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens).
A March nationwide study by the Walton Family Foundation that found 51% of teachers use ChatGPT for school, compared to 33% of students ages 12 to 17.
The DOE hopes to have a policy for AI in place by June 2024.
