Are K-16 Educators Prepared to Address the Educational and Ethical Ramifications of Artificial Intelligence Software?

In this mixed-methods study, 222 PK-16 educators were asked to respond to an online survey seeking whether they had concerns or reservations about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, how they believed AI use impacted teaching and learning, how they perceived its risks and benefits, and whether they felt prepared to address the educational and ethical ramifications of its use. Although AI has been implemented in education across many countries, the results from this study showed that most (54%) educators had little to no knowledge of AI and even less familiarity (55%) with ChatGPT. Furthermore, only 11% of the respondents indicated having or implementing AI policies in their campuses. In fact, some participants offered recommendations to limit or prevent the use of AI, which specifically included the use of the language model ChatGPT. Conversely, educators familiar with AI perceived it as useful for accomplishing teaching and/or learning tasks such as writing, grading, and even lesson planning. Themes from those of responsibility, personalized learning, and inclusiveness to those of ethics, apprehension, and plagiarism resonated in this study. Finally, implications for policy and practice affecting educators as well as exploring new directions for AI research are recommended.