During a House Education Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) spoke in support of using artificial intelligence in U.S. schools.
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning.
00:02Artificial intelligence has been advancing at such a rapid pace in recent months, weeks,
00:07and days that by the end of this hearing, anything we say this morning will probably
00:12be outdated.
00:13That's perhaps a slight exaggeration, but it is the essential reality.
00:19Leading labs continue to put out new models each week, shattering benchmarks, demonstrating
00:24incredible capabilities, and pointing towards still greater advancements ahead.
00:29Indeed, there does not appear to be any limit to this progress in sight.
00:35This rapid acceleration towards the future has brought a host of anxieties, not least
00:40of which is geopolitical.
00:42At this moment, America holds a clear but precarious AI advantage.
00:47There are also concerns related to jobs, privacy, safety, control, and more broadly, a sense
00:52of uncertainty about the social changes that coming breakthroughs will herald and what
00:56our world will look like for the next generation.
01:00As understandable and important as these concerns are, the bigger picture is one of opportunity
01:06and a truly limitless sense of possibility.
01:11Even with the state of the art as it now exists, let alone what it will be next week, next
01:16year, or a decade from now, we suddenly have tools to address many longstanding challenges
01:22in new and powerful ways.
01:26Education is one very clear example of that.
01:29I'm a former high school teacher, and I believe one of the greatest failings in our country's
01:33modern history is the way millions of kids have been deprived of a decent education.
01:38Our school system has shameful achievement gaps, nowhere more so than in my home state
01:43of California.
01:45Owing to the neighborhood they were born into, far too many young people in this country
01:49are not receiving the education they deserve and are robbed of the opportunities that a
01:53quality education provides.
01:55Meanwhile, the educational attainment of the country as a whole has been on a sharp decline.
02:02AI can change that.
02:04It has the potential to give every child in America a richer educational experience than
02:10any child in America had just a few years ago.
02:14It can give every teacher in America a greater ability to reach students than any teacher
02:18did in the past.
02:20It can empower parents to follow their child's progress and guide it accordingly.
02:26For a glimpse of this potential, here's a short video.
02:37One teacher in a classroom of more than 20 students, it may be hard for them to get around
02:41to everyone during a class period.
02:43But now with the help of this artificial intelligence tool, students are getting more one-on-one
02:49tutoring without replacing that human interaction.
02:52What was your nonfiction?
02:53Catalina Toledo is enjoying the extra set of instructors in her 10th grade reading class
02:59at Santa Lucia's high school.
03:00It's a tremendous amount of help because it reiterates everything that I've taught them
03:04and then it allows them to go back and forth with it.
03:09It is called Conmigo, an artificial intelligence powered tool through Khan Academy.
03:14That's a supplemental secure educational program the district was already using.
03:19It's the advancement of technology guys who are living through it.
03:24Students like Tiffany Cioffi are among the first to use this virtual tutoring program
03:29giving her individual attention.
03:30It doesn't give us answers at all.
03:32Actually right now it's asking questions about the story and he's like, oh what would happen
03:37next?
03:38Instead of throwing the answer at me, he's like, let's figure it out together.
03:41Toledo says diving into the world of AI can be scary and overwhelming at first.
03:46She doesn't worry about a computer taking her job, but knows it's part of the future,
03:51so better to use it in a controlled environment.
03:54The kids are going to utilize the things that are out there, so I feel like if they're able
03:58to utilize it with us, then it's better because we can monitor it.
04:03She says it can also give students more confidence who may not feel comfortable raising their
04:08hand in class.
04:09It helps answer different questions that I'm concerned about and if I'm worrying about
04:14how to spell a certain thing or how to do a certain thing, it'll answer it right away
04:18instead of having to wait for your teacher when they're busy with other students.
04:34At the most basic level, AI tools like Conmigo from the Khan Academy give every child access
04:42to a world-class tutor in any subject.
04:45This is no small matter.
04:46Studies have shown that just a year of high dosage tutoring can add up to a full two years
04:51worth of additional learning gains.
04:54Yet this is a very special kind of tutor, one that's available any time of the day for
04:58unlimited amounts of time and that can't be stumped by any question.
05:02It's a tutor that is thoroughly familiar with a student's strengths and weaknesses
05:06and baseline knowledge, enabling personalized instruction that compels critical thinking
05:12without giving away answers.
05:13Perhaps best of all, this tutor is low-cost or free.
05:17For most of history, access to this kind of personalized instruction would have been completely
05:23unthinkable, yet AI has made it commonplace.
05:26These tools can customize the learning experience for each student, adapting their content pace
05:31and learning style to the student's performance and preferences.
05:34They can also bring learning to life in new and dynamic ways.
05:38Learning physics from Albert Einstein or engaging in a dialogue with a fictional character when
05:43studying work of literature.
05:45We're already seeing AI widely adopted by students in limited ways.
05:49Nearly 50% of K-12 students use ChatGPT at least weekly.
05:54Of the students who use AI, 35% frequently use it to summarize information, 32% to generate
05:59ideas for assignments, and 26% to get initial feedback on their work.
06:04So the question is not whether students will use AI.
06:06That's already happening.
06:07Rather, the question is how schools can support students in using AI responsibly and in unlocking
06:14its full potential to advance student achievement.
06:17And it's not just students who stand to benefit.
06:20AI can empower teachers and school leaders to fulfill their vision for their classrooms
06:25and to connect with students in the highest impact ways.
06:28AI tools can help with tasks like lesson planning and grading and can free teachers to focus
06:32on the aspects of education that only a caring human can provide.
06:36A recent McKenzie analysis found that AI can save teachers up to 13 hours per week.
06:42There are also, of course, risks when it comes to AI usage in the classroom.
06:46Recent studies show the ready availability of chatbots has proven an irresistible temptation
06:51to many students.
06:53Nearly 40% of middle and high school students admitted they used AI without teacher's permission
06:58to complete assignments, according to a survey last year.
07:00Now, while outright cheating is certainly a concern, the bigger challenge is to be vigilant
07:05in assuring AI never becomes a shortcut to avoid engaging in critical thinking, formulating
07:10original ideas, and persevering through challenging content.
07:14Student privacy is also a crucial issue.
07:17District leaders must be thoughtful about the data that gets collected and vigilant
07:20about securing that data.
07:21We'll hear testimony today about how district leaders and administrators can use AI responsibly
07:27without endangering students' rights.
07:29And finally, we must be mindful of excessively absorbing students into digital worlds.
07:35The negative effects of smartphone use for young people have become impossible to deny.
07:39And the last thing we want to do is compound this problem.
07:42I suspect the most successful approaches to AI in the classroom will assure human interaction
07:47remains fundamental to the educational experience.
07:52None of this, I should add, is a call for new mandates at the federal level.
07:57Quite the contrary.
07:58Education is fundamentally a state and local issue, and the best education solutions emerge
08:04when school leaders and teachers are given flexibility to do what's best for their students.
08:09This is especially true given the infinite variety of ways AI can be utilized in the
08:13classroom and the rapid pace at which it continues to evolve.
08:18The purpose of today's hearing is to cast light on the enormous potential that exists,
08:23and we can continue to highlight outstanding examples of AI in education throughout the
08:27country so best practices can be shared.
08:30We have an excellent witness panel assembled to give us perspective on all of these questions,
08:35and I'm looking forward very much to hearing their thoughts.