Today, Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Kiley (R-CA) delivered the following statement, as prepared for delivery, at a
hearing titled
"From Chalkboards to Chatbots: The Impact of AI on K-12 Education":
"Artificial Intelligence has been advancing at such a rapid pace in recent months, weeks, and days that by the end of this hearing anything we say this morning will probably be outdated. That is perhaps a slight exaggeration, but it is the essential reality. Leading labs continue to put out new models each week – shattering benchmarks, demonstrating incredible capabilities, and pointing towards still greater advancements ahead. Indeed, there does not appear to be any limit to this progress in sight.
"This rapid acceleration towards the future has brought a host of anxieties, not least of which is geopolitical: at this moment, America holds a clear but precarious AI advantage. There are also concerns related to jobs, privacy, safety, control, and more broadly, a sense of uncertainty about the social changes that coming breakthroughs will herald and what our world will look like for the next generation.
"As understandable and important as these concerns are, the bigger picture is one of opportunity and a truly limitless sense of possibility. Even with the state of the art as it now exists – let alone what it will be next week, next year, or a decade from now – we suddenly have tools to address many longstanding challenges in new and powerful ways.
"Education is one very clear example of that. I’m a former high school teacher, and I believe one of the greatest failings in our country’s modern history is the way millions of kids have been deprived of a decent education. Our school system has shameful achievement gaps, nowhere more so than in my home state of California. Owing to the neighborhood they were born into, far too many young people in this country are not receiving the education deserve and are robbed of the opportunities that a quality education provides. Meanwhile, the educational attainment of the country has a whole has been on a sharp decline.
"AI can change that. It has the potential to give every child in America a richer educational experience than any child in America had just a few years ago. It can give every teacher in America a greater ability to reach students than any teacher did in the past. It can empower parents to follow their child’s progress and guide it accordingly.
"For a glimpse of this potential, here is a short video.
"At the most basic level, AI tools like Khanmigo from the Khan Academy give every child access to a world-class tutor in any subject. This is no small matter; studies have shown that just a year of high-dosage tutoring can add up to a full two years’ worth of additional learning gains.
"Yet this is a very special kind of tutor: one that is available any time of day, for unlimited amounts of time, and that can’t be stumped by any question. It’s a tutor that is thoroughly familiar with a student’s strengths a weaknesses and baseline knowledge, enabling personalized instruction that compels critical thinking without giving away answers. Perhaps best of all, this tutor is low-cost or free.
"For most of history, access to this kind of tutor would be completely unthinkable. Yet AI has made it commonplace. These tools can customize the learning experience for each student, adapting their content, pace, and learning style to the student's performance and preferences. They can also bring learning to life in new and dynamic ways: learning physics from Albert Einstein or engaging in a dialogue with a fictional character when studying a work of literature.
"We are already seeing AI widely adopted by students in limited ways. Nearly 50 percent of K-12 students use ChatGPT at least weekly. Of the students who use AI, 35 percent frequently use it to summarize information, 32 percent to generate ideas for assignments, and 26 percent to get initial feedback on their work. The question is not whether students will use AI – that’s already happening. Rather, the question is how schools can support students in using AI responsibly and in unlocking its full potential to advance student achievement.
"And it’s not just students who stand to benefit. AI can empower teachers and school leaders to fulfill their vision for their classrooms and to connect with students in the highest-impact ways. AI tools can help with tasks like lesson-planning and grading, and can free teachers to focus on the aspects of education that only a caring human can provide. A recent McKinsey analysis found that AI could save teachers up to 13 hours per week.
"There are also, of course, risks when it comes to AI usage in the classroom. Recent studies show the ready availability of chatbots has proven an irresistible temptation to many students; nearly 40 percent of middle and high school students admitted they used AI without teachers’ permission to complete assignments according to a survey last year. While outright cheating is certainly a concern, the bigger challenge is to be vigilant in assuring AI never becomes a shortcut to avoid engaging critical thinking, formulating original ideas, and persevering through challenging content.
"Student privacy is also a crucial issue. District leaders must be thoughtful about the data that gets collected and vigilant about securing that data. We’ll hear testimony today about how district leaders and administrators can use AI responsibly without endangering students’ rights.
"And finally, we must be mindful of excessively absorbing students into digital worlds. The negative effects of smart phone use for young people have become impossible to deny, and the last thing we want to do is to compound this problem. I suspect the most successful approaches to AI in the classroom will assure human interaction remains fundamental to the educational experience.
"None of this, I should add, is a call for new mandates at the federal level. Quite the contrary: Education is fundamentally a state and local issue, and the best education solutions emerge when school leaders and teachers are given flexibility to do what’s best for their students. This is especially true given the infinite variety of ways AI can be utilized in the classroom.
"The purpose of today’s hearing is to cast light on the enormous potential that exists, and we can continue to highlight outstanding examples of AI in education throughout the country so best practices can be shared. We have an excellent witness panel assembled to give us perspective on all these questions, and I’m looking forward to hearing their thoughts."
