Artificial intelligence tools are growing at a rapid pace, and so are their adoption and sophistication. Just over two years after its launch, some four billion people across the globe are visiting generative AI tool ChatGPT monthly. And, even in just the last few months, AI tools have gotten closer than ever to resembling human reasoning.
Christian Jackson, the 24-year-old founder of Edapt Schools, which provides AI tools and consulting services to schools, highlighted what AI makes possible today and how schools can use it during the AASA national conference’s 3rd General Session on Saturday in New Orleans. His talk was titled “Leading as AI Architects: Leading the Charge for Lasting District Achievement.”
In his work, Jackson travels up and down his native state, California, to work alongside superintendents to help them find ways to implement AI into their workflows so teachers have more time to focus on educating students.
In his conversations with educators, he’s realized there’s plenty of fear around the technology, which he says isn’t unfounded. “I would argue there’s a lot of healthy fear,” Jackson said. “The question is, how do we turn that fear into an openness to learn?”
After all, he said, with four billion people accessing ChatGPT in a single month, “the genie’s out of the bottle, and we are preparing 5-year-olds for a workforce we don't even understand yet,” he said. The new tools like Khanmigo, Google’s Gemini or NotebookLM, which Jackson showcased during the session, can support students or streamline the daily work of educators, he said.
As districts consider how they might deploy AI, Jackson encouraged conference attendees to remove themselves from the hype around AI, and remove AI from their thought process as they consider two questions: What are the largest projects and time sinks that are costing you and your team right now? And if you were given a brainiac assistant, what would be the first items and projects you would offload?
“If [somebody] walked in the district said, ‘Hey, here's a brand-new assistant for you,’ what is the first thing you would say? ‘Can you help me on A, B, C and D?’ Those are really easy for people to come up with — a lot easier than what can AI help with.”
The answers, Jackson said, will reveal the kinds of AI tools and solutions that educators can search for to best serve their needs right now — whether it’s providing one-on-one support in the classroom or supporting its human resources department with a chatbot that answers employees’ questions about workplace policies.
As educators begin to deploy AI, Jackson provided some best practices. Be intentional about your priorities, he said. “When you do save time, what are the things on your to-do list … that you want more time in the day to do.”
Avoid the efficiency trap, he said. “Faster does not mean better.” And look for purposeful innovation. He added: “Utilize these tools to help us to do more of the human tasks.”
Consider AI as the Robin to your Batman, Jackson said. “My hope is that you leave today with the knowledge to help turn these AI tools into your personal sidecar, Robin, just as I've done, so you have a partner in crime every single day.”
(Sarah Lindenfeld Hall, a freelance writer in Raleigh, N.C., is a senior editor on Conference Daily Online.)
