TIFTON — Tift County Schools has outlined its intentions for the implementation of ethical and responsible usage of artificial intelligence by both students and staff for the coming school year.

Members of the county Board of Education reviewed the outline established for the school system’s stance on AI during their workshop meeting last week, aiming to integrate the system into their educational framework while preserving academic integrity and digital literacy.

Jonathan Judy, chief information officer for the school system’s Business and Operations department, explained that he had assembled a board of shareholders, including teachers, media specialists, and administrators to brainstorm the school system’s position on AI in response to an executive order filed by the president promoting AI education and integration into a learning environment.

This board then consulted data and resources from state agencies and other school districts across Georgia and the country to form the framework of their stance.

Regarding student usage, Judy reported that the program would establish a tiered system of Red, Yellow, and Green for AI usage, based on the types of assignments the students would be working on.

The Green tier would allow free AI collaboration in the pursuit of enhancing learning and productivity in the form of personalized learning tools, language translation, or other forms of educational support. Yellow would establish AI’s permissibility on research projects or creative assignments, outlining how it could be used with teacher permission to assist but not replace student effort. Lastly, Red would lay out where AI usage was prohibited, such as on high-stakes assignments or those requiring original thought.

This system will also clarify the consequences for violations and establish the teacher’s responsibilities in determining the appropriate levels of classroom AI usage, providing clear instructions on its proper usage, and monitoring student application of AI tools, Judy stated.

He stressed the importance of properly educating Tift County students on ethical usage of AI so that the school would be able to ensure it was being used responsibly and could properly hold students accountable for violations.

Regarding the staff and faculty, Judy reported that the school system’s support staff would be working to determine how AI could be employed to increase efficiency and productivity, and planned to introduce more training opportunities for staff in the coming school year through programs like monthly lunchtime seminars for administrative office staff and summer training programs.

Additionally, he asserted there were plans to release an FAQ for parents over the summer, with considerations for in-person meetings for those parents to ask further questions, and the school system would provide students opportunities to present feedback to staff on the proposed AI programs.