NARRAGANSETT, R.I. (WPRI) — As the first week of back-to-school wraps up, some schools are revamping policies surrounding the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

The first day of school in Narragansett is Tuesday but Superintendent Peter Cummings told 12 News they have some exciting initiatives that make their district unique.

“We have wonderful programs in computer science, agro-science, digital media, education, and plumbing,” Cummings said. “For those programs, we have a number of students that come to us from other districts and within our own district.”

Cummings also highlighted how the district is preparing its students for their futures.

“Our faculty is truly committed to, supporting students both in and out of the classroom. They have very high and rigorous academic standards. But at the same time, they want our students to grow as people and so we do a lot of work on our professional learning,” said Cummings.

One big topic the district is focused on regulating is using AI and ChatGPT in the classroom.

Instructional Tech Coach Vanessa Miller told 12 News it’s important to have a curriculum established around this newer technology.

“We found some curriculum that we really like living at the middle school, and then we’re continuing to try some content at high school,” Miller explained. “This is all brand new. the major players in the game, like Digital Promise, have just released an AI literacy framework, and they’re still getting into the nitty gritty with it.”

Hundreds of students in Narragansett will return to the classroom next week – and will be getting guidance on how to use chat GPT and artificial intelligence in their studies.

The chatbot was launched just two years ago and many school districts in Rhode Island have not established guidelines on AI yet but that will hopefully change this year.

“Once RIDE releases the guidelines, which they promised to release this fall, we’ll have a better grasp on what’s expected of us from the state,” said Miller.

That plan will also include recommendations for teachers and how they can use it as a tool for themselves.

“Right now with our teachers, they are using a tool that we vetted and we partnered with, to help them with lesson planning, with quiz generation, with making connections between, you know, what’s relevant in student lives to what they’re presenting in class or to just increasing engagement,” said Miller. “A core group of educators have been taking a deep dive into AI and how it’s impacting education as a whole, but also how teachers can utilize the tools, to streamline learning to help, relieve some of the burden of administrative tasks that are on them.”

Congressman Gabe Amo has introduced a bill to help develop an artificial intelligence literacy curriculum for schools and provide tools for educators to teach it – that legislation is being considered by the House committee on science, space and technology.

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