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AI Ethical Literacy for Schools

The emergence of AI is an exciting technological moment, fraught with possibilities and challenges for education. Schools are asking themselves how best to prepare their students for a world that is going to experience significant change, not only in the workplace, but in terms of values and attitudes to matters of truth, ownership and the value and role of scholarship.

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However, for many schools engaging with AI so far has initially been a case of discussing academic integrity versus plagiarism, or the consequences of creating deepnudes. Some schools use AI to add to their learning environment. A few schools have banned it completely.

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We argue that, as schools, it's not enough to simply understand how AI functions.

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It's not enough to be able to simply recognise a product of AI.

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We need to be thinking about the ethical problems that AI creates today. We need to be considering what kind of adults our students will need to be, to face the moral dilemmas AI creates in the future. AI is a powerful tool, but it is not one that should be used blindly.

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AI Ethical Literacy is our toolkit to begin to address these areas and to help students build their models of a good society and a good life. These are not philosophy lessons, but rather practical questions about how we consider:

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  • Bias and prejudice

  • Transparency

  • Accountability and democratic norms

  • Privacy, relationships and digital citizenship

  • The dignity of the human and the dignity of work

  • Sustainability

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Imagine that you could go back to 2004, just before Facebook launched in the UK, and warn schools of the epidemic of anxiety and harm that was going to be released by social media. This is that same moment for AI. It offers immense opportunity, but also carries significant risk.

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​Having worked in the UK Home Office drawing up the Prevent Duty, we can say that we are in the process of making many - though not all - of the same mistakes seen with social media in the 2010s.  Our complacency as a society at the time led to significant harms. We have spent the last ten years working for the UN and the EU in training governments to recognise these harms and it is our belief that the longterm solutions lie in better education.

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Have a go at our scenarios on the 'Self-assessment' page below to see how you would cope with these questions, or get in touch to see how we can help deliver training for staff and students that will help address these issues.

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It is possible both to enjoy the fruits of AI in the classroom, with all the benefits it brings, and also to prepare our students for the hazards that may follow.​ AI will change the world, but it would wrong of us to let our students assume that they have no role or agency in that change. 

All of our training for schools is referenced against the PSHE Association curriculum and 'Education for a Connected World'

"AI ethics makes us think about what a good and fair society is, what a meaningful human life is, and what the role of technology is and could be in relation to these... it could be that we have already answers to these questions, but we need to do some work to think about what the good life means in the context of today's technologies, including AI."

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- Professor Mark Coeckelbergh

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'Online safety/skills and media literacy teaching is currently spread across various areas of the school curriculum – including through RSHE, Computing, Media Studies, Citizenship and – to an extent – English and History. Guidance should advise schools on how to educate children about the implications of generative AI across these subjects (for example teaching about critical thinking and recognising false information) and how to foster responsible use of AI technologies.'

 

'Generative AI: Children's and Parents' Views', Feb 2024

Research: Generative AI in education | Internet Matters

Thoughtful look

For Safeguarding & PSHE

AI programmes are released at a rate of approximately 1500 a week. No-one can keep a register of the risks they pose. Rather, we want to help you to understand some of the ways their functions could be dangerous to children - and what we can do to help keep them safe.

Helping Tutor

For Teachers

Teachers need an understanding of AI that enables them to meet their students on a level playing field. They are best-placed to guide them through the ethical questions that AI poses. We want to help you to develop the students' critical ethical thinking that will be essential to their future happiness and fulfilment.

Student in Library

For Students and Parents

Students are the early-adopters of this new technology. However, surveys show they are also the most likely to regard it as a neutral resource. Parents are often themselves uncertain of how to engage with their children on the topic. We are hear to help facilitate those discussions.

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Who We Are

Our experience and our mission

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We don't believe that DIgital LIteracy programmes yet grapple with the immense changes AI will offer. After 20 years in teaching, we argue that the answer  is in an ethical literacy that enables students to critically assess AI before they use it.

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Resources and Reviews

Find links to AI Ethical pages, digital literacy sites and read reviews of useful materials. We are also building our own resource bank of lessons and curriculums which will be available to trainees.

Raising Hand for a Question

Self-Assess

Use these scenarios to help you to understand where your knowledge gaps are. If a student came to you with one of these scenarios, do you have an answer, or even fully grasp the problem?

Training Programmes

From INSET to student seminars, after-hours CPD to parent information evenings, we offer AI ethical literacy training for every aspect of school life. Please click below to explore in more detail.

Some of our clients

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EU Commission.webp
Home office.webp
DOS.webp
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