ADVANCING IN AI

BACK TO SCHOOL: How artificial intelligence is making an impact in Catholic schools.

“To be, or not to be, that is the question.”

Doesn’t that quote bring back some old memories? I remember reading Hamlet in English class, a group of us cramming for our upcoming exam by pouring over the footnotes, trying to understand what all the ghosts were trying to tell us. 

Even outside the classroom, it’s a prevalent question to ask: When faced with a crossroads, how do we know which way to act? It’s also a popular dilemma this school year surrounding the question of using artificial intelligence in the classroom. 

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a set of computer systems that are able to perform tasks that normally require human intervention, such as visual perception or speech recognition. 

It sounds like something from an episode from “The Jetsons,” but AI has merged into everyday American usage, particularly since the introduction of ChatGPT, a large-scale chatbot that can interpret and respond to users’ messages. Users can type in, “Write a brownie recipe” or “Write a lesson plan for my English class,” and the program will turn out shockingly accurate replies, enough to have taken the world by storm. 

But as AI programs rise in popularity, so does the uncertainty of their growth, especially in the classroom. Catholic schools in particular are questioning not just the moral implications but the tangible impacts AI has on how students learn and how teachers conduct their lessons. 

Many Catholic schools are left to wonder: to support or to not support? And the answer, like so many things, lies somewhere in the middle.

A GROWING WAVE

Released in November 2022, ChatGPT has put a spotlight on AI. According to Forbes, over 1 million users joined ChatGPT within the first five days of being available, and AI is expected to see an annual growth rate of 37.3 percent from 2023-30. 

In August, the Vatican announced that “Artificial Intelligence and Peace” will be the theme for the next World Day of Peace, which is scheduled for Jan. 1, 2024. The announcement followed a meeting in March between the pope and tech industry leaders, ethicists and theologians to discuss the ethical development of AI. 

In an August interview with the Spanish magazine Vida Nueva, the pope quipped that, “All these issues of artificial intelligence go over my head,” but that “new technologies have great potential; they are a gift from God and can give good fruits, but they need to have heart, they need to be humanized.”

Dr. Giovanni Virgiglio, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Albany, said, “When it comes to AI and its use in our schools, we are optimistic, curious and enthusiastic about how this new technology might advance our ability to serve students from all backgrounds, interests and needs.”

“While there has been some recent concern regarding the potential overreach of AI, I think we need to remember that any change often courts controversy, which is not a bad thing,” he explained. “Putting a magnifying glass on this issue is precisely what will ensure that there are guardrails up to protect all of us while at the same time providing our Catholic School Office and our individual schools with more resources and increasing our ability to stay at the leading edge of education. Anything we do to incorporate AI into our curriculum will be viewed through a moral and ethical lens, which is what our Catholic schools do best and what our world needs more of.”

The Diocese of Albany Catholic schools explored AI at their annual Superintendent’s Conference Day, held on Sept. 5 at Corpus Christi Church in Round Lake, and attended by hundreds of teachers and faculty. 

The keynote address, titled “Discover AI: Unlock Classroom Potential,” delivered by Erin Sailor, Executive Director of Professional Learning, and Alex Urrea, Founder/CEO of Eduscape, focused on debunking misinformation surrounding AI and how ChatGPT can be a time-saving tool for teachers.

When it comes to a lay person’s understanding of AI, “It’s word of mouth, a lot of it right now,” Sailor told The Evangelist. “So not being clear on what it is, or having used or touched it ourselves, can feel kind of scary. We’re trying to make sure people feel knowledgeable, confident and have started discussions (on AI) so if I’m unsure I can come to you and just share what I’m thinking about it. That’s really our motivation, is building confidence and getting a conversation started.” 

CLASSROOM IMPACTS

Sharon Small, director of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence at Siena College, said that AI programs like ChatGPT are “an amazing advancement,” but that “what it can do is definitely a concern for education” if left unchecked.

With ChatGPT, students can ask the chatbot to, “Write an essay on Macbeth” or enter their math homework and ask the computer to solve it, bypassing the work. Small, who teaches computer science at Siena, started offering her exams on paper this semester, instead of on laptops like in previous years, in order to block students from accessing ChatGPT during the test.

“Are we taking a big step forward here in our education and learning? Probably, but we have to be careful that students are coming along in the right way and learning the building blocks,” she said. 

Mouna Aouini, a middle-school Spanish teacher at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady, said that ChatGPT and other AI language-learning apps, like Duolingo, have been a great resource for her class. 

“ChatGPT can generate natural conversation,” she said. “If you go to Google (translate) it’s so hard to find natural conversation. But ChatGPT can generate natural conversation. ... It’s like having a native speaker at home. At least now, students can find support.” 

Aouini noted that she can tell who is really doing the work or not. “I think a lot of us can notice the difference in students,” she said. ”I can tell when I talk to students the day after a lesson if they go home and practice or not. And those (AI) apps are great, at least for learning language.”

“Plagiarism and cheating concerns are a big concern, but I think it’s solvable by the teacher,” Small added. “I think it will be extra work by the teacher, like in my example, but if we were testing them in the right way we can remove plagiarism.”

Outside the classroom, Small sees a great deal of potential for AI. Advances in homeland security and medicine, all based on growth in AI, have the potential to move society forward. 

Inside the classroom, it’s still too early to tell AI’s impacts, she said.

“I think there’s great potential, and a huge advancement using this kind of technology, but the schools need to focus on it fast and make sure they’re doing the right stuff,” Small said.

“If the foreign language teachers don’t adjust to the new methods, they’re going to stay behind,” Aouini said. “I prefer to guide (students) and accept it as a new resource than leave it there and stay behind.”