SETDA reposted this
We succeeded! The U.S. House of Representatives AI Task Force report has a chapter on AI in Education! You'd think this wouldn't be that big a deal, but early Senate forums on AI didn't include education as a topic and even the recent presidential election didn't have much in terms of education policy. There is also so much to cover per AI that legislators can view K-12 education as too removed from immediate concerns. I was fortunate to be asked to testify to the task force and am pleased with the results. See pages 87-110 for the education and workforce section. (Yeah, I never expected K-12 education to have its own chapter!) Key education-related messages: - Responsible AI adoption in America requires AI literacy. I added the responsible part. - K–12 educators need resources to promote AI literacy. - AI literacy includes understanding how AI works, using it responsibly, recognizing its social and ethical impacts, and understanding the benefits and how to mitigate the risks. - Schools and universities need guidance, such as in procuring AI tools wisely. - There is still not enough access and participation in STEM subjects, especially CS education, which contributes to AI literacy, and US students are lagging behind other nations in subjects like mathematics. Thank you, Representatives Jay Obernolte (R-CA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) for leading the task force. Thank you to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Leader Hon. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for their bipartisan efforts to improve our nation's AI standing. Thank you to all the players working to raise awareness of AI in education issues, such as Erin Mote, Karl Rectanus, and the members of the EDSAFE AI Alliance and Della Cronin, James Brown, and Bose Public Affairs Group. Thank you to my long-time colleague Allyson Knox of Microsoft. Thank you to Lane Dilg and Anna Makanju of OpenAI for making a place for education issues in much larger AI conversations. There are so many advocating for AI in education at the federal level, like Richard Culatta of ISTE, Julia Fallon of SETDA, Keith Krueger of Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), Sal Khan of Khan Academy, and Stacey Pelika of the National Education Association. Now if we can just pass some K-12 AI in education bills! #TeachAI, #AIliteracy