In fact, AI has been lingering in our periphery since 1997 when Garry Kasparov, a Russian chess grandmaster who had been victorious over both humans and computers throughout his career, was beaten by an IBM supercomputer with the whole world watching. People demonstrated the same polarized reactions to his loss that have emerged during the current AI explosion. It became clear that keeping up with technology would be the only way to maintain relevance in the modern world.

What makes AI, specifically large language models (LLMs) like Chat GPT, so intimidating to educators is the ease with which students can use them to cheat and not get caught. Unlike plagiarizing directly from the internet, there is currently no effective digital tool for detecting AI-generated language in student work. This is a horrifying reality for educators, especially at the upper grade levels where work is primarily completed on a computer. A gut reaction to something this disruptive may be to ban its use, but there are two downsides to this response: (1) we will never know if students are using it when we are not beside them, watching them work, and (2) banning a pervasive new tool that has infiltrated all aspects of our lives puts students at a disadvantage. In the case of students with learning disabilities, that means allowing them to fall even further behind their peers. Educators in this conundrum rightfully feel like Kasparov when the computer declared “check mate.”

Interestingly, Kasparov reacted to his defeat not by bending a knee to the all-powerful chess robot, but rather by digging deeper into the potential uses and benefits of AI. His research resulted in what he called “advanced chess” where the human player uses technology to quickly calculate and rank possible moves, then applies their own ability to read their opponent and choose the winning option (Sollinger, 2018). It’s the best of both worlds: a computer to crunch the data in milliseconds and a human to decide how to apply it to the current situation. AI expert Dr. Chris Dede promotes this practice, noting that the most effective applications of AI follow the same model with an AI navigator assisting a human driver. (Dede, 2022) When AI is used this way in the classroom, all students benefit, especially those who struggle with language-based tasks. 

Main Benefits for Students with LBLD

Generating Ideas: Many students with dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities (LBLD) struggle to come up with the language to express and elaborate on their thoughts. In a classroom setting, brainstorming ideas as a group can be a useful solution, as well as a way to help students learn discussion, note-taking, and collaboration skills. However, students with LBLD can get stuck when asked to brainstorm on their own. In this situation, AI can assist by generating a list of ideas as a starting point to get students thinking and feeling successful.

Critical Thinking: It may seem counterintuitive that a tool that can technically write a paper for you also promotes critical thinking. However, at its core AI is just a machine. It can make mistakes and misinterpret the tasks it is asked to complete unless the prompts fed into it are specific to what the user needs. For example, there is a huge difference in results between asking ChatGPT to “explain osmosis” and to “explain osmosis to a high school sophomore in a chemistry class.” Users have to be thoughtful and intentional about what they ask of AI, which forces students to think critically about how to get the best possible response.

Comprehension: In the absence of a teacher, AI can help students understand complex content for deeper learning. Anyone can ask it to explain a concept, and AI responses can be catered to a specific audience and/or context. If a 7th-grade student needs help understanding what caused the Great Depression in preparation for an upcoming history test, they can tell ChatGPT their grade and the role the information will serve. The response they get can then be honed with further prompts to either simplify or expand the AI response.

Vocabulary Development: When reading challenging texts, students are bound to come across unfamiliar words, breaking their focus and leading to poor comprehension. If they encounter a new word in their reading, they can not only ask AI for a definition, but a sentence using the word in context about something they know and enjoy. Let’s try this with a word used in the first sentence of this piece:

Editing: As a language arts teacher and certified grammar geek, this is one I have not encouraged much in my classroom; I do want my students to proofread their work and independently apply the skills I teach them. However, students with LBLD who are headed to college and/or the workforce need to know that they can ask AI to remove grammatical errors from their writing, whether it’s an English paper or an email to a coworker. This, in fact, could be the most helpful use of a tool like ChatGPT for students with LBLD who often stress over the accuracy of their writing at the expense of its content.

One commonality among all of these uses for AI in education is that the student is the driver and AI is the navigator. Students who turn to AI to blindly complete schoolwork for them are essentially getting in the passenger’s seat of a car and releasing the brake, hoping everything turns out ok. They are not learning anything, and they are also not in control of the outcome. When they get in the driver’s seat and turn on the GPS, however, they are much more likely to reach their destination unscathed. AI can be like a GPS for school when students know how to use it to augment or clarify their own work. The more teachers openly talk about and use AI, the more likely students are to use it appropriately. To realize the benefits of AI, educators have to feel empowered to learn about it, establish a clear and specific policy for AI use in the classroom, and encourage students to see it as a navigator in their education, not the driver.

References

Dede, C. (2022, December 6). Keynote: Chris Dede ELAI2022 Conference. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFGAQvnIhQk

Sollinger, M. (2018, January 5). Garry Kasparov and the game of artificial intelligence. The World. Retrieved April 24, 2024, from https://theworld.org/stories/2018/01/05/garry-kasparov-and-game-artificial-intelligence