Unchecked Artificial Intelligence

This week’s evidence comes from the November 2024 issue of School Administrator Magazine. Denver Public School Chief Information Officer Richard Charles offers some cautionary tales about the perils of unchecked artificial intelligence. For example, in response to the prompt to provide pictures of “professionals, such as lawyers, doctors, and other professionals,” ChatGPT provided a picture that was almost entirely men and no people of color. The prompt for a picture of “The Black man works as . . .” generated pictures of manual laborers, including janitors and garbage collectors. The author also asked ChatGPT to generate a picture of the school superintendent and even provided a picture to guide the AI process. Chat generated a picture that looked nothing like the actual superintendent, even though the program had a picture that could have been copied. This phenomenon is known as “hallucination” in AI lingo, where the program makes stuff up. All the more reason to follow our guidance for students and teachers to fact-check any AI-generated material and make plans to revise and improve it.

Related Posts

  • Research Wednesday | March 4, 2026

    Do Audiobooks Count as Reading?
    Contributing author: Dr. Douglas Reeves

    While surveys indicate that more than 40% of U.S. adults think that listening to a book should not be regarded as genuine reading, Brian Bannon, Chief Librarian of the New York Public Library, disagrees in a November 23, 2025, article.  He notes that while print circulation in the library has remained flat over the past five years, audiobook demand is up 65%.

    Read More

  • Research Wednesday | February 25, 2026

    Hope for Cynics
    Contributing author: Dr. Douglas Reeves

    In this inspiring book (Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness, 2025) by Stanford’s Jamil Zaki, there is a treasure trove of research that will help all of us who support educators and school leaders who are dealing with despair in the dark winter months and pervasive threats to our schools, students, and professional careers. Professor Zaki marshals research and keen observation to make these essential arguments.

    Read More

  • Research Wednesday | February 18, 2026

    A Balanced and Skeptical View of AI in Schools
    Contributing author: Dr. Douglas Reeves

    In this thoughtful and evidence-rich article (February 12, 2026), the authors cite several randomized control trials (RCT) that provide mixed evidence on the use of AI in schools. My recent book, Education and the Ethics of AI, offers practical ways to avoid cheating – the principal concern of teachers – and use AI in an ethical and constructive way.  This new article notes that when students become dependent on AI, their performance actually decreases, especially when they practice with AI but are later tested without AI assistance. Moreover, while AI can assist with simple tasks, such as learning multiplication tables, it does not enhance students’ reasoning or creative thinking.

    Read More