Using the AI Bill of Rights to Guide Education’s use of AI and the European Commission's “Ethical Guidelines for Teaching and Learning” to Guide the Future of AI in Education Part 2 of 2

Author: Samantha Goldman; info@ciddl.org

Learning from the European Commission's Guidelines

The European Commission (EC) set forth the “Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data in Teaching and Learning for Educators” which provides explicit guidance as to the impact AI is and will have on schools and how to help teachers use it in the most beneficial ways. Differing from the Bill of Rights, this document is situated within the world of education, specifically, the EC’s Digital Education Action Plan for 2021-2027. Perhaps of most importance, is the EC’s stance on the fact that AI will not only change education but how it can be used ethically, critically, and positively to impact education. Combating popular “initial responses” from teachers, including that AI can’t be trusted, does not belong in education, is too difficult, is not inclusive, and will undermine, if not replace the teacher, this guide hopes to provide guidelines for use to effectively implement and use AI in schools.

Similarly to the Bill of Rights, this guide provides considerations for oversight, transparency, data privacy, non-discrimination, and well-being. The guide, then, goes into great detail providing specific uses for AI in schools looking at the student-facing, teacher-facing, and school-wide planning supports AI can provide. As with anything, the EC reminds education systems that they cannot just expect to implement AI. Rather, they lay out a plan for effective use. These include determining what AI is currently being used and updating how and what data is collected, creating and updating policies that include the most current guidance on AI, starting with a pilot program, collaborating with the developer of the AI, and monitoring its use.

Education and AI: Areas and Competency Addressed by the EC

Looking specifically at the impact of AI on six areas of education, the guidance includes specific competencies and indicators to guide ethical AI use in schools in Europe. Some of these include:

Professional Engagement: using digital technologies communication, collaboration, and professional development
1. Teachers should be able to describe the positive and negative uses of AI including the ethical impact on schools and how to promote responsible usage.
2. Teachers should understand how to use learning analytics and the basics of AI including providing feedback when necessary.
Digital Resources: sourcing creating, and sharing
1. Teachers should understand the responsibilities in keeping data private and how long it is maintained and understand what data are private.
2. Teachers know how to incorporate AI into their teaching, how to cite it, and how to explain data in the system.
Teaching and Learning: Using digital technologies in learning
1. Teachers understand models of learning and how AI systems understand what learning is.
2. Teachers consider how AI impacts the classroom community
Assessment: Using digital technologies and strategies to impact assessment
1. Every student responds to feedback differently
2. AI does not take into consideration creativity
Empowering Learners: Digital technologies can lead to personalization, inclusion, and active engagement
1. Teachers can use personalized learning systems to adapt to their students and explain how these systems can benefit all students.
2. Teachers continue to use data and evidence to support the use of AI and for constant monitoring.
Learner’s Digital Competence: the opportunity for students to use technologies creatively
1. Students need to learn about the responsible use of AI.

The guidance provides specific examples as AI is and can be used to simplify, automate, and increase productivity within education and how it directly relates to areas of ethics. Examples of this include the concept of using student dashboards to guide student learning, which specifically impacts well-being, privacy, and accountability, scoring essays using automation, which impacts non-discrimination, accountability, and transparency, and interventions for students with disabilities, which looks into oversight and safety.

The EC’s Recommendations for Students with Disabilities

The scenario put forth in the document explores the impact of AI on the identification of students with disabilities and providing individualized support. AI systems can monitor students and their progress with learning using data from standardized tests, reading speed, and attention. The AI is then able to recommend specific interventions and even the probability that the student has specific disabilities and diagnoses.

The ability to use all this student data to make decisions that often require months, if not years, of documentation, testing, and meetings, is both exciting and scary. The idea of the amount of time that practitioners could be afforded by the use of AI to provide more meaningful individualized interventions is promising. But, the guidelines suggest several areas that education systems need to address and pay particular attention to. These guiding questions include: Are there procedures for teachers to intervene? Is the information secure? Is the teacher even aware of what is going on? How does AI impact the role of the teacher?

Thinking Back to the “AI Bill of Rights”

There are several similarities between what was developed by the White House to broadly govern the use of AI and what was developed by the EC to guide AI usage specifically in education. The policies developed in the EC should be used as an exemplar as we develop specific guidelines to address the needs of educators and students in America with regard to AI.

What areas are missing from these documents that you think need to be included as we come together as innovators in this cutting-edge field? What questions do you have about the implications of AI for education? Where do you see AI going and how will it change education? If these topics excite you, your voice is needed in our community. Join us and the conversation in the CIDDL community.