Auckland Secondary Principals Association and member of the AI Forum, Claire Amos. Photo: Supplied
The Auckland Secondary Principals Association warns the government needs to match its enthusiasm for artificial intelligence with training and funding for teachers.
It said suggestions teachers could use AI to mark most student work were "dangerous".
Earlier this week, the government said AI marking was critical for its planned replacement of the NCEA and the Education Ministry told schools they "must have a policy" on acceptable use of generative AI such as ChatGPT.
On Tuesday Education Minister Erica Stanford said the Qualifications Authority used AI for marking NCEA literacy and numeracy corequisite exams and would use it more widely by the time the Certificate of Education replaced NCEA level 2 in 2029.
She said New Zealand was a world-leader and she expected teachers would use the technology to reduce their workloads as the replacement for NCEA was introduced.
"If we didn't have AI, this is something that probably wouldn't be possible without a massive injection for NZQA.
"But we do have AI, it is coming, and it is getting better and better every year, we are already world-leading in the way that we use it."
The same day, the Education Ministry sent schools updated advice on AI.
It said schools that offered NCEA must have a policy on the acceptable use of generative AI.
"Schools with consent to assess listed standards are required to have an authenticity policy to support assessment practice. This policy must include the acceptable use of GenAI," it said.
"The principle of authenticity means that students are required to demonstrate their own knowledge, understanding, and skills in NCEA assessment events. Any evidence submitted for assessment must be their own work."
Auckland Secondary Principals Association and member of the AI Forum, Claire Amos, said it was confusing for educators that the ministry was urging caution over AI, but the minster said it would be crucial for replacing NCEA.
Amos said the ministry's guidance was very high-level and fell well short of the centralised training, advice and resources that teachers needed.
"There's no point having words on a page if we're not upskilling school leaders and we're not upskilling teachers to navigate their way through both the opportunities that AI offers and the great benefits that AI can offer but also understanding the risks," she said.
Amos said other countries were much more advanced than New Zealand in terms of school use of AI.
Estonia, for example, was investing in teacher training and in AI platforms specifically for schools so student privacy was protected, she said.
Amos said AI should not replace classroom teachers when it came to marking student work.
"There's huge risks if we start thinking AI is the answer to assessing all student work," she said.
"We should be using the technologies and tools to support teachers to make good judgements, we could be using AI in the moderation process and addressing those concerns people have around internal assessment in schools but we are walking a dangerous line if we think we are going to mark all of our student work using AI. That is hugely disempowering for students, hugely disempowering for teachers as well."
Amos said the rising use of AI could exacerbate the digital divide between rich and poor schools and between those that were advanced technology users and those that were not.
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