TOPEKA, Kansas (WIBW) – Artificial intelligence continues to advance and schools say it’s a very real problem as we begin the new school year.

Schools across the country are looking for ways to protect themselves from AI.

“You can use it in very useful ways, but you can also get into trouble with it,” says Gail Ramirez, technology integration specialist at Topeka Public Schools.

Many students use ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence programs to complete their homework faster or even cheat on assignments.

Educators from the region discussed how they deal with this in the classroom.

“If you are a teacher and you absolutely do not want your students to write when using AI, have them do it in class,” Ramirez said.

“I expect my students to be very clear about how they’re using the technology,” said Carson Kay, assistant professor of communication at Washburn University. “We talk about citations, we talk about reference entries, we even talk about an acknowledgement at the end of their papers just letting me know how they’re using the technology.”

While AI in the classroom is often frowned upon by students, it opens up a world of possibilities for teachers.

“We train many of our teachers on how to use it in the classroom as a tool to give students a richer learning experience and motivate them so they are more engaged in the class,” Ramirez said.

At the university level, teachers are aware of the potential of AI and some professors are open to this theory.

“Educators want people to talk to them because we know that this technology enables a lot of really meaningful innovations,” Kay said.

Schools allow teachers to set their own AI policies. Students interested in using the technology should talk to their teachers about how best to do so.

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