Labour to back use of ChatGPT and AI in schools
The UK will back international guidelines on using generative AI such as ChatGPT in schools, the Education Secretary is set to announce.
In a speech to the Education World Forum in London on Monday, Bridget Phillipson will aim to put Britain at the forefront of a “revolution” in education technology.
As well as funding efforts to create guidelines on the safe and effective use of AI in the classroom, she will announce £1.1 million in funding for a pilot examining how technology can improve staff workload, outcomes for pupils and inclusivity for children with special educational needs.
She will say: “Setting AI on the right track now is the most important challenge for global education in a generation.
“We need to come together to grow a global, collective consensus – a suite of effective tools, built on top-class evidence.”
The UK will also host a summit next year to support the development of global guidelines on using generative AI in education.
Safety ‘top priority’ when using GenAI
Existing guidelines leave schools free to make their own decisions about the use of generative AI such as ChatGPT, provided they comply with their legal obligations.
The guidelines also say that safety should be the “top priority” when deciding whether to use generative AI, and that schools should not use pupils’ work to train AI models without permission.
The Government is already using AI to produce attendance reports in an effort to cut down the number of days children miss school, and aims to use the technology in other areas as well.
Phillipson is expected to tell Monday’s conference: “We’re using technology to free up teachers to spend more time teaching.
“For children that means more attention, higher standards, better life changes.
“For teachers – less paperwork, lower stress, fewer drains on their valuable time.”
By Christopher McKeon, PA Political Correspondent