Revised Draft Provides Examples of Risks in Using AI at Schools; Threshold for AI Use at Schools Drops

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:21 JST, November 27, 2024

The education ministry released a revised draft of guidelines for the use of generative AI in elementary, junior high and high schools on Tuesday, providing examples of risks and considerations.

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry has designated the guideline as “reference material to realize the appropriate use” of generative AI in schools.

The sentence “Start with limited use,” which was included in the current guidelines published in July last year, has been removed, lowering the threshold for the use of generative AI, though there are still some conditions.

The ministry showed the draft to an expert panel on Tuesday. It plans to revise the guidelines by the end of the year.

The draft emphasizes the need for the exercise of caution when using generative AI, especially by elementary school students, stating that children should refrain from using generative AI when their “information morality” — their ability to use information found on the internet responsibly — has not been sufficiently developed.

The draft says it is important to tailor methods of teaching information morality to the students’ level of development. It also says that it is “desirable to consciously teach” how to fact-check, and highlights learning activities in Japanese class that focus on evaluating the credibility of information.

Some of the risks and concerns highlighted in the guidelines are “Students may mistake the AI as having a personality,” “Processes necessary for learning will be skipped when taking an AI’s answers for granted” and “Use of generated materials will sometimes result in copyright infringement.”

Meanwhile, the guidelines say, “It is useful to actively use [generative AI] so that [teachers and staff] can judge its appropriateness” with regard to their duties, such as preparing lessons and making documents.