Once labelled a 'cheating machine,' AI cautiously embraced in Halifax schools

Linus Mulherin · CBC

· Posted: May 01, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Three students huddle astir a machine successful a schoolroom astatine Eric Graves Memorial Junior High successful Dartmouth, N.S., arsenic David Waugh gestures to an AI-generated representation of a sweatshirt created for a location ec assignment.

It's a country comparatively caller successful Halifax-area classrooms arsenic teachers similar Waugh statesman to clasp the increasing exertion portion weighing the morals of utilizing chatbots and different AI tools to signifier young minds.

"The contented is that going forward, it's going to beryllium present anyways," said Waugh. "So we request to fig retired however to accommodate to it."

To that end, the Halifax Regional Centre for Education has developed guidelines on the usage of AI — artificial intelligence — in the schoolroom based connected input from teachers successful the district.

Their stated purpose is "to guarantee that AI technologies are integrated into acquisition for some students and teachers successful an ethical, safe, and inclusive manner." 

That includes things similar not putting idiosyncratic accusation into AI tools, monitoring students truthful they aren't exposed to harmful content, and disclosing erstwhile artificial quality has been utilized for schoolhouse projects.

A alteration successful attitude

Waugh said the guidelines travel astatine a clip erstwhile perceptions of AI usage among teachers are shifting, noting "attitudes person changed massively" successful the past mates of years.

He pointed to ChatGPT, a generative AI chatbot with a seemingly unending database of functions, from mimicking quality conversations to drafting emails to penning machine code. Waugh said ChatGPT was erstwhile considered "the cheating machine," but educators person begun to spot the advantages of utilizing AI for fact-checking oregon research, for example. In 1 Halifax classroom, AI was utilized to make images based connected students' poetry.

Another origin successful AI's adoption has been the request to amended students connected its liable usage amid concerns astir the nonaccomplishment of captious reasoning skills, said Waugh.

OpenAI, the institution down ChatGPT, suggests connected its website that students usage the instrumentality for world "grunt work," similar formatting citations successful an essay, freeing up clip for the originative process.

Waugh's students are adapting to the change, utilizing the exertion successful their classwork. James Hathaway, a Grade 7 student, said utilizing AI lets him absorption connected his world strengths.  

"I find it precise useful," helium said. "For example, I'm not precise bully astatine drawing, truthful having representation procreation is simply a precise large win."

He said it's a bully happening that the limitations of the technology, specified arsenic illegible words successful images, mean helium inactive has to beryllium captious of what it produces.

School boards and universities astir the satellite person had mixed reactions to the usage of AI. While immoderate promote its use, others person considered bans oregon blocked AI apps connected schoolhouse devices out of interest implicit plagiarism and misinformation.

Chris Cocek, a subordinate of the exertion integration squad for the Halifax schoolhouse district, said that's not the mode forward.

"We can't disregard that artificial quality is here. It's rapidly embedded itself wrong our nine astatine large," said Cocek, whose squad trains teachers connected however to usage AI responsibly. "We request to person these conversations with our students truthful that they're informed users."

Necessary successful a changing world

Johanathan Woodworth teaches astir exertion integration successful Mount Saint Vincent University's module of education. He believes the imaginable benefits of AI for acquisition are precise high, but truthful are the risks, adjacent beyond the classroom.

"I'm acrophobic of atrophying skills that we request to have," helium said, citing the fearfulness that AI volition regenerate immoderate intelligence functions, specified arsenic narration gathering and affectional intelligence.

The champion imaginable result of AI usage successful schools, said Woodworth, is expanding students' productivity portion allowing educators to item the quality qualities that acceptable them isolated from AI.

Taking vantage of exertion mustn't travel astatine the disbursal of the "human element" successful classrooms, helium said.

"Teachers person to beryllium open-minded astir integrating these tools, but besides teachers person to beryllium taught however to integrate these tools, however to critically analyse these tools."

He said the aforesaid goes for students.

"If we don't, radical are conscionable going to instrumentality the casual mode out," helium said.