Common Responses from AI Supporters
When bringing up the topic of the use of AI in schools, both with supporters of AI and schools themselves, they will often respond with the same talking points.
AI companies that sell to schools have created pages dedicated to teaching school administrators how to convince parents that AI should be used in the classroom.
Here we list those common points and why they are wrong.
"AI is the future, students must learn how to use it"
One of the major selling-points of AI is that it lets users ask for what they want in plain English. It requires little to no training.
We agree that it
"AI literacy" frames the use of AI in classrooms as just another skill that children should learn. It sidesteps the well-documented negative impacts on learning, critical thinking, retention and creativity.
By using AI at a younger age, schools are setting younger students along the path towards all the issues seen in university students.
"AI is like a personal tutor, it can answer any questions"
Talking to a chatbot like SchoolAI is extremely isolating. It hijacks the personal connections that humans naturally build when talking with others, and turns it into a reliance on a for-profit tool.
It promotes a hyper-individualism where children are no longer learning as part of a class community.
That isolation and hijack of personal connections has driven adult users to states of psychosis.
"AI keeps kids engaged"
AI companies are quick to point out how engaging AI tools are. They do this because studies have shown that tools like ChatGPT are terrible for learning and retention.
The interactive snappy way of interacting with chatbots decreases attention spans and comprehension ability.
"This kid-friendly AI has safety measures"
SchoolAI, and other AI companies that market to schools are aware that chatbots have encouraged children to commit suicide and talked to children about sexual.
They and the schools that use them reassure parents that their AI tools are safer, even when they simulate interacting with victims of the holocaust.
As with other talking-points, the issue is not whether it is safe, but whether it is helping the children learn.
"It enhances creativity."
Image and text generation is amazing for giving people the illusion of creativity without any of the effort. Users feel like they are working faster, despite being slower.
By using it in schools, children are taught that practicing to get better at something like drawing or writing is pointless, and that instead they should just use a tool to do it for them.