Signed into law on June 2, the landmark act is a sweeping effort to implement regulations over the continuously emerging technology, from consumer protections to workforce development.
The bill — which was approved by the legislature in May — has wide-ranging implications for schools, students and teachers in Connecticut, including social media and AI chatbot restrictions, new curriculum, teacher training, higher education partnerships and more.
“As artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly common part of students' lives, this legislation is a step toward promoting the safe and responsible use of emerging technologies and complements the CSDE’s ongoing work to strengthen digital and AI literacy, digital citizenship, critical thinking and student well-being,” said state Department of Education spokesperson Matthew Cerrone in a statement to CT Insider.
Here are five major education-related components folded into the law.
COMPUTER SCIENCE, AI CURRICULUM
While many schools have implemented AI into the classroom in a variety of ways, the law means that AI is now explicitly enshrined within public school instruction statewide.
“I think districts have been adapting their curriculum as technology evolves. I think districts have been responsive to the changing technology,” said Patrice McCarthy, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education. “This just specifically calls out AI.”
McCarthy noted that this provision of the act expands upon an existing requirement, as Connecticut schools were already required to provide computer programming instruction. “This amends a section of the statute that covers a whole host of curriculum issues,” she said.
Even so, the law does not create a computer science graduation requirement, nor does it require every student to take a standalone compute science or AI course, according to the state Department of Education.
“What it envisions is that at one or more times during a student’s academic career, they will have exposure to these issues in the curriculum,” McCarthy said. “It won’t necessarily be every year, it won’t necessarily be every grade, that’ll be determined at the local level.”
It is always a challenge when a change such as this is adopted months before a new school year, she said, but believes districts will be able to adapt. McCarthy said she expected that districts will largely incorporate the computer science and AI instruction into their existing curriculum, and expand upon efforts already underway.
“It’s an issue that districts, I think, are already attempting to address in their instruction,” McCarthy said.
According to the state Department of Education, districts will retain flexibility in how they provide the computer science and AI instruction, whether that be through new dedicated courses or by integrating the concepts into existing curriculum and coursework.
SOCIAL MEDIA, AI CHATBOT RESTRICTIONS FOR MINORS
A major provision of the law has to do with kids, social media, and AI chatbots, with new online safety rules that impact what goes on after school as well.
“Increasingly, social media companies are taking advantage of kids, creating apps and algorithms that decrease their attention spans and drive them to become addicted, causing them to tune out learning and tune out each other, and harmfully impact their mental health and wellbeing,” Gov. Ned Lamont said during a bill-signing ceremony June 2.
To limit children’s access to “addictive algorithmic feed,” the act requires social media companies to verify a user’s age and, if the user is a minor, receive permission from their parent or legal guardian to access it. Under the act, social media platforms cannot send minors notifications between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m., and the default setting must limit a minor’s access to one hour per day, unless changed by the minor’s parent or guardian.
In recent years, educators across the state have expressed concerns about the impact of social media on schoolchildren. Teachers have reported increased distraction, stress/anxiety, and behavioral issues among students — noting that kids’ social media and technology use at home can have a direct impact on their classroom experience.
McCarthy commended the state’s efforts to add additional protections for young people.
“Obviously it addresses issues that are of great concern to parents as well as to educators,” she said. At the same time, she noted that enforcement was always a challenge, as the act leaves the social media restrictions largely up to parents.
In addition, the act enacts safeguards for minors using AI chatbots, including limits on chatbots fostering or manipulating emotional interactions, including romance and suicidal ideation. The chatbot provision of the legislation follows a CT Insider investigation that showed students in Connecticut were dating AI chatbot companions that were pushing sexually explicit and violent conversations with minors.
CONNECTICUT AI ACADEMY
The act also creates a Connecticut AI Academy, a statewide education initiative on artificial intelligence for students, teachers, school officials and more to learn about how to use the technology responsibly.
The AI Academy — which the Board of Regents for Higher Education must establish by the end of the year — will offer online classes on AI and responsible use, help prepare students for careers that involve AI, offer courses and resources for 13- to 20-year-olds, create AI-related workforce training courses, develop AI training for teachers, and more.
TEACHER TRAINING, PREPARATION PROGRAMS
The act specifically requires the Connecticut AI Academy to consult with teachers’ unions and other stakeholders to “develop or offer courses and videos for elementary and high school teachers and administrators on the appropriate use of AI in classrooms, how to use AI, and instructing students to use AI.”
A number of Connecticut districts have already started training staff on how to use the new technology, but new training always comes with a cost, so the courses could help districts financially as well.
“Certainly, any resources that we can make available to our educators will be welcomed,” said McCarthy, from the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education. “It’s another way of taking a little burden off individual districts from having to create their own professional development in this area.”
The act has impacts on Connecticut’s future teachers as well.
Starting in July, teacher certification preparation programs in Connecticut may include grade-level and subject-area appropriate use of emerging technologies for student learning and classroom instruction.
AI HIGHER EDUCATION ALLIANCE
Connecticut’s colleges and universities also play a major role in the state’s AI landscape under the act.
The act establishes partnerships with public and private higher education institutions in the state to develop AI programming, and coordinate research and workforce development.
Ultimately, this AI higher education alliance would also create a talent-matching program that connects students with state and municipal projects in the AI field — building a pipeline for students entering an AI-era workforce.
“This law creates real protections against the misuse of AI while preparing our workers, students, businesses, and public institutions for an AI-enabled future. The future of AI should be built with people in mind, and today Connecticut is helping lead the way,” said state Rep. Hubert Delany, D-Stamford, in a June 2 statement about the legislation.
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