BOSTON — The largest school district in Massachusetts is at the forefront of a statewide push to bring AI into classrooms.
Boston is among 30 districts selected by the state to pilot a new artificial intelligence curriculum at middle and high schools.
It builds on-going efforts to train teachers on the technology.
The initiative involves a semester-long course that introduces foundational concepts, technologies, and societal implications of artificial intelligence.
“AI’s a revolutionary technology,” said Lisa Irey, Chief Technology Officer at Boston Public Schools. “As an educational institution, we need to be on the forefront of that.”
Irey told Boston 25 News that the district officially rolled out AI in classrooms back in August and believes it will help close opportunity and achievement gaps by personalizing the learning experience.
“You can learn two years’ worth of content in about six weeks with concentrated AI chatbots and tutors to help accelerate that,” said Irey. “It helps reduce the teacher load, which reduces teacher burnout and improves teacher retention.”
The district is now focused on stressing AI literacy for students and teachers while emphasizing the importance of evaluating it critically.
“It’s important that you lead from a place of purpose and also from a place of centering student data privacy,” said Rhianon Gutierrez, Director of Digital Learning at Boston Public Schools.
Gutierrez said the district is making it clear that AI technology will not replace humans in the classroom.
“I know there’s a fear around that. At the center of the work that we do is to emphasize how important it is to keep humans involved in the decision-making,” she added.
The evolving implementation of AI technology in classrooms in participating Massachusetts districts is expected to serve as a model for other schools across the state and country.
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