Suppose someone used AI to spice up their college admissions essay, Gaillot asked her students at Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans. Is that OK?
Red bulbs blinked on as students used handmade light switches to indicate: Not good. Using AI to co-author a college essay is dishonest and unfair to other applicants who didn’t use the technology, the students said.
What about a student council candidate who uses AI to turn her ideas into a speech? Now some yellow lights lit up: Generating your own ideas is good, but passing AI writing off as your own is not, the students agreed.
“These are discussions that your generation needs to have,” Gaillot told the class.
Get ready for more ethical quandaries as artificial intelligence spreads through schools.
AI relies on algorithms, or mathematical models, to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence like understanding language or recognizing patterns. Popular AI programs like ChatGPT can answer students' questions and help with writing and researching, while also assisting teachers with tasks like grading, lesson planning and creating assessments.
About 60 percent of teachers said they used AI tools last school year, and nearly half of students ages 9-17 say they’ve used ChatGPT in the past month. This year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order promoting AI in education. And in Louisiana, where schools are experimenting with AI-powered reading programs, the state board of education last month called for more AI exploration.
Louisiana’s education department issued some guidance last year on AI use in classrooms. But for the most part, schools are making up rules as they go — or not. Nationwide, less than a third of schools have written AI policies, according to federal data.
The lack of a clear consensus on how to handle AI in the classroom has left educators and students to figure it out on the fly. That can cause problems as students approach the blurry line between using ChatGPT for research or tutoring and using it to cheat.
“We've had a record number of academic integrity issues this past year, largely driven by AI,” said Alex Jarrell, CEO of Ben Franklin, a selective public school that students must test into.
Yet, because the technology is rapidly evolving and capable of so many uses, Jarrell said he’s wary of imposing top-down rules.
“That's why I've really been encouraging teachers to play with this and think it through,” he said.
AI IN THE CLASSROOM
Gaillot, who teaches engineering and statistics, is leading that charge. She says schools can be woefully slow to adapt to new technology. Case in point: States like Louisiana only recently banned cellphones in schools despite the negative effects on mental health and learning.
“We let them come into students’ lives and we really didn't prepare them for it,” she said.
Now, students are trying largely unregulated tools like ChatGPT with little training in AI literacy or safety. When Gaillot surveyed Ben Franklin ninth graders in 2023, 65 percent said they use AI weekly.
“We can't miss it this time,” she said. “We have to teach children how to use this well.”
Backed by a New Orleans-based technology group called NOAI, Gaillot convened a team of Franklin educators to explore four AI topics: ethics, innovation, tools for teachers, and classroom uses. The team developed AI handbooks for students and teachers, and Gaillot led AI workshops for staff. With NOAI funding, the school bought licenses for ninth graders to try Khanmigo, which uses AI to assist students in math.
Gaillot said she’s urged skeptical teachers to view AI as more than a high-tech cheating tool. It can speed up time-consuming tasks like creating worksheets or grading assignments. And it can augment instruction: A Franklin history teacher used an AI program to turn textbook readings into podcast episodes, Gaillot said.
She also has pushed her colleagues to fundamentally rethink what students must learn. With ChatGPT able to instantly write code and perform complex computations, helping students think critically and creatively will give them an edge.
“You can't just learn in the same way anymore,” Gaillot said. “Everything's going to keep changing.”
WHAT DO STUDENTS THINK ABOUT AI?
Students in Gaillot’s introduction to engineering class, an elective open to all grades, have nuanced views on AI.
They know they could use ChatGPT to complete math assignments or draft English papers. But besides the ethical issues, they question whether that’s really helpful.
“You can use AI for homework and classwork,” said senior Zaire Hellestine, 17, “but once you get to a test, you're only using the knowledge you have.”
Freshman Jayden Gardere said asking AI for the answers can keep you from mastering the material.
“A very important part of the learning process is being able to sit there and struggle with it,” he said.
“It defeats the purpose of learning, added sophomore Lauren Moses, 15.
AI programs can also provide wrong or made-up information, the students noted. Jayden said he used Google’s AI-powered search tool to research New Orleans’ wards, but it mixed up their boundaries. (His father pointed him to something called a map.)
The teens also worry about AI’s environmental impact, including data centers that consume massive amounts of energy. And they fear the consequences of letting computers do all the intellectual heavy lifting for them.
“Humans are going to lose their ability to think and do things for themselves,” Lauren said.
Despite reservations, they still think schools should teach students how to use AI effectively.
“We know kids are using it regardless,” Jayden said, “and we know that it's eventually going to become integrated into our everyday lives.”
In Gaillot’s class last week, the students also discussed real-world uses of AI. They were often skeptical — “It’s a money grab!” one girl said about Delta Air Lines’ plan to use AI to set ticket prices — but they also saw how programs can help people, like Signapse which uses AI to translate text and audio into American Sign Language videos.
“AI and humans, they can work together,” Zaire said, “as long as we're making sure that it's used correctly.”
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