U.S. schools are grappling with how to handle artificial intelligence. Across the country, individual school districts have often taken the lead, with a patchwork of approaches throughout a single state. That’s according to Chris Agnew, director of the Generative AI for Education Hub at Stanford University.
But to Agnew, Utah has been an exception. And in a good way.
“One of the most coherent statewide level strategies and approaches is Utah,” he said.
The Beehive State was the first to create a position overseeing AI in K-12 education statewide. Over a year ago, the Utah State Board of Education hired Matthew Winters as its full-time artificial intelligence specialist.
That kind of statewide coordination means Utah can collect stronger data about how AI is used in schools, Agnew said, and get a clearer picture of what is and isn’t working.
In an interview with KUER, Winters outlined what the state is doing. He said the technology is not going away, so educators need to figure out what using it appropriately looks like. He’s working with policymakers, as well as individual school districts that want guidance on their AI framework.
“We want to get ahead of everything that's going to come down the pipeline, because there's a lot of things coming with AI that is driven by industry, and we've got to not be reactionary, but prepared,” Winters said.
...
