A lot of school districts are rushing to draft standalone AI policies, but I had an insightful conversation with a forward thinking Superintendent, and she shared a different approach that resonated with me. Instead of having a dedicated AI policy, she believes AI should be embedded within existing policies—plagiarism, bullying, communication, and academic integrity—so that the policy remains relevant and enforceable, no matter how technology evolves.
Her argument makes sense: We don’t have “telephone policies”, we have “communication policies.” The same should apply to AI. If we build AI into our overall instructional, ethical, and behavioral guidelines, it ensures that policies remain future-proof and aren’t reactionary to specific tools.
that makes a lot of sense and lots of institutions have had that conversation of where to insert it into those policies or even if that is needed based upon the language of some of those sectional policies.
But I keep thinking/wondering what might be missed from that; are there new gaps that arise from this new tool. That is new policies (e.g. data protection or vendor policies) that might not have been in existence were it not because of digital technology. Do we miss anything by assuming it fits under things already in existence?
A lot of school districts are rushing to draft standalone AI policies, but I had an insightful conversation with a forward thinking Superintendent, and she shared a different approach that resonated with me. Instead of having a dedicated AI policy, she believes AI should be embedded within existing policies—plagiarism, bullying, communication, and academic integrity—so that the policy remains relevant and enforceable, no matter how technology evolves.
Her argument makes sense: We don’t have “telephone policies”, we have “communication policies.” The same should apply to AI. If we build AI into our overall instructional, ethical, and behavioral guidelines, it ensures that policies remain future-proof and aren’t reactionary to specific tools.
that makes a lot of sense and lots of institutions have had that conversation of where to insert it into those policies or even if that is needed based upon the language of some of those sectional policies.
But I keep thinking/wondering what might be missed from that; are there new gaps that arise from this new tool. That is new policies (e.g. data protection or vendor policies) that might not have been in existence were it not because of digital technology. Do we miss anything by assuming it fits under things already in existence?