MANSFIELD, Ohio — The use of artificial intelligence is growing in our everyday lives. It's already having a big impact on the education industry.
Good Morning Cleveland anchor Tiffany Tarpley visited the Richland School of Academic Arts in Mansfield to see how AI is being incorporated in the classroom. Social studies teacher Dan Jones is using Chat GPT and virtual reality headsets to teach students about the Revolutionary War.
"To be able to see a picture of George Washington at Valley Forge is very different than just reading about it," said Jones.
Students like Ava Lively and Na'zyia Brown are already seeing the benefits of AI-assisted learning.
"It helps me a lot with my projects," said Lively.
"It helps me write out my summaries better," said Brown.
While AI can make the learning process earlier, there are questions about students using AI to cheat on their school work.
"The way that AI works, it doesn't just provide them with an answer, which has been a concern of many educators," said Jones. "The AI we're using is different. I was able to program it so that it didn't provide answers. It provides a few details and then asks a follow up question to help build critical thinking."
The technology helps students complete their assignments at home even if they have questions.
"This gives them the opportunity to ask essentially a virtual teacher those questions and they can get immediate clarification on that information before they ever get to class," said Jones.
The feature has some teachers concerned about job security, but Jones isn't worried.
"It doesn't replace me," said Jones. "I still have the opportunity to guide and direct students through the learning process even though they have that additional resource or tutor there.
Jones encourages educators to get more comfortable with AI because it's not going away.
"As we evolve in education, technology is going to evolve and we have to be willing to embrace that and not necessarily fight it or stop it from happening because our students are already engaged in that technology and we need to learn how we can work with that to make things relevant for them," said Jones.
