The Education Department, under a directive in President Biden’s 2023 executive order on artificial intelligence, has issued guidance for AI developers on products for use in education settings, with input and support from the sector.
“[T]his guide seeks to inform product leads and their teams of innovators, designers, developers, customer-facing staff, and legal teams as they work toward safety, security, and trust while creating AI products and services for use in education. This landscape is broader than those building large language models (LLMs) or deploying chatbots; it includes all the ways existing and emerging AI capabilities can be used to further shared educational goals,” according to the department.
According to the guide, prepared by the Office of Educational Technology in collaboration with technologists, industry groups and other stakeholders, “Our insights here are intended to support people who are managing teams in the design and development of products that leverage AI to improve teaching and learning. We have attempted to address topics that will be relevant across the continuum of edtech developers, which includes established firms and newcomers, as well as developers across research, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations.”
It says, “We address not only developers of products for formal education settings -- including elementary and secondary schools, colleges, and universities -- but also for educational uses at home, community, and other informal settings.”
“To this end,” it says, “each section of this document is built around a core recommendation and includes a set of discussion questions that leaders in organizations can use to foster conversation, next steps to promote robust development processes, and resources that can provide additional support. Please note that the Department and other federal agencies are actively considering next steps to promote the safe and responsible use of AI. Thus, this document suggests ‘questions to ask’ and ‘directions to pursue’ to developers that are deliberately open-ended.”
The guide “provides non-regulatory, education-specific guidance that is aligned with federal guidelines and guardrails.”
Sara Kloek, vice president for education and children’s policy at the Software & Information Industry Association, said in a July 8 statement, “This document emphasizes the unique ecosystem of Ed Tech as one that ‘encompasses many different people and organizations working together to design and refine new products and services. We agree with this philosophy. Our members are responsive to their customers’ needs and enter into partnerships rather than having a simple buy/sell relationship.”
Kloek said, “The core message of this document is “Shared Responsibility for Building Trust,” and it highlights SIIA’s ‘Principles for the Future of AI in Education,’ released last October, as a key resource for developing AI-enabled ed tech products. We believe the ed tech vendor community is a critical partner for the education system and look forward to working with our partners in this ecosystem to educate our leaders of today and tomorrow.”
She said, “SIIA is proud to have played a role in the development of the guide and appreciates the inclusion as a key stakeholder by the Department of Education.”