Proud Moments & NYC’s HE3AT Program

This week featured one of the proudest moments for AI for Education.

As part of our year-long collaboration with the NYC DOE's HE3AT program, we have been working with a group of 11th and 12th graders from South Brooklyn to help shape GenAI policy proposals as part of the DOE's AI Policy Lab.

Initially this group of 24 had very little previous practical exposure to GenAI - only 3 had used ChatGPT previously.

But over the past few months, they have deeply engaged with the technology and its implications. This week they shared their policy drafts with key sponsors of the HE3AT program and AI Policy Lab including the Deputy Chancellor Carolyne Quintana, key district leaders like Superintendent Michael Prayor and Tara Carrozza, and the CEO of InnovateEDU Erin Mote.

Their proposals focus on five key areas:

1.       The Importance of an AI Policy
2.       Academic Integrity
3.       Building AI Literacy
4.       Ethics & Accountability
5.       Equity & Accessibility

The students brought thoughtful, expert perspectives rooted in their own communities and first-hand research. They emphasized the importance of digital access, especially for those with limited resources and a balanced approach to adoption. My heart may have grown a few times during their presentations.

As we all tread into uncharted waters, creating, experimenting, and forging new solutions daily, this was also a crystallization that our practical and collaborative approach at AI for Education is working and just how critical student voices are in the process.

We couldn't feel more hopeful about educators, school leadership, and students working collaboratively to shape and guide the responsible use of this transformative technology.

Thank you to everyone at the NYC DOE, Superintendent Prayor, Tara, Erin, and the AI Policy Lab for this opportunity to work with these students!