SALT LAKE CITY — As students across Utah prepare to head back to class, an education-focused AI platform launched its latest updates Wednesday that could make a big impact on your child’s classroom.
“It’s exciting when I see it meeting the needs of all our students,” said Matt Winters, the Artificial Intelligence Education Specialist with the Utah State Board of Education.
Inside the SchoolAI headquarters in Lehi on Wednesday, parents and educators gathered in front of a stage and listened to multiple presentations and roundtable conversations.
“For parents, we want to make sure they understand this is technology that is sticking around — and it’s going to affect our society and our students,” Winters said.
SchoolAI, an artificial intelligence-powered education platform, is now used in more than 80% of Utah’s school districts and classrooms nationwide.
One of the platform’s newest features is “Dot.” It’s a virtual teaching assistant that adapts to a student’s learning style, interests, and academic progress. The AI assistant helps with homework, writing, feedback and offers students support outside the classroom, according to Colton Taylor with SchoolAI.
Daniel Graybeal, a parent who attended the showcase, has two sons with learning disabilities. He said the platform is already making a difference. “It’s been huge to see how this kind of support can even the playing field,” he told FOX 13.
But not everyone is on board with the new technology in schools. Abbie Cooler, a West Jordan mother of two, said she’s still on the fence about AI in general. “I worry it will affect kids’ critical learning skills, make them too dependent on these tools,” Cooler said.
The AI platform, which offers learning in up to 60 different languages, offers educators real-time insights into classroom performance. So, this means teachers can see who needs extra help and how exactly they can offer support.
Taylor said that the state is training educators to build what they call “constitutionalized chatbots.” These are AI tools with teacher-written guidelines that keep the focus on learning, which means no shortcuts.
“A teacher can say, ‘We don’t want the chatbot to write an essay. We want it to answer questions in multiple languages," Winters explained.
The updated version of SchoolAI officially launched on Wednesday.
