Maine Lawmakers Weigh Creating Study of AI, Social Media, Cell Phones in Schools
Maine lawmakers weighed a bill that would establish a working group to study the use of AI, social media and cell phones in public school settings Wednesday. While a member of the public testified in support of the legislation, some members of the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs worried about the cost, the effort's potential redundancy and that it could place an undue burden on Department of Education staff.
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"I think it's very timely for us as a state, for the education committee, to sit down and say, 'What do we think the future of artificial intelligence looks like, and what is going to be the impact on public education within schools in the state of Maine?'" said Rep. Michael Brennan (D), bill sponsor. The "first thing that we should probably do is have a working group or the legislature should have some type of task force, [where] we could sit down and have this discussion."
If LD-643 were to pass, there would be a report from the working group back to the education committee with recommendations for policies to be possibly implemented in schools. "I don't have a set goal or agenda around artificial intelligence, around social media or around cell phones," said Brennan. "But I think all three are critical to the future of public education in the state of Maine, and it warrants this committee, with the Department of Education and all stakeholders, parents, school superintendents, everybody else, to have an opportunity to sit down and work through these three issues and potentially develop policies that will be beneficial to public education in the state of Maine."
Though Brennan said it was his intention to keep costs to a minimum, he said he lacked cost data, so he could not answer related questions.
Rep. Holly Sargent (D) said she worries "this is a huge topic" that is "changing very rapidly," which might be a lot to put on the Department of Education.
But Brennan said he is "certainly open to how we might parcel out or parse...the responsibility for looking at different pieces of this, as long as it comes together in a way that we can have a common conversation."
Matt Pines, advisor to Sapien Labs and director of a device-free summer camp for teenagers, testified in support of the bill. "We've been down this road before with social media, which was sold as innovative, engaging, even educational, only to learn far too late that it was deeply harmful to young people," he said. "We're still picking up the pieces ... we cannot afford to make the same mistake again with artificial intelligence."
Republican Rep. James Libby noted a statewide task force exists, which is assessing AI's impacts and uses, including education. But Pines said a more thoughtful study, looking at the educational impacts of AI only, is the best way to go.
"I think that with many of these technologies, with many of the things that have been developed for [the] corporate world or for commercial use, [get] smooshed and forced into classrooms, and I don't think it's always a great fit, and I don't think it's always developmentally appropriate," Pines said. "I would encourage a look at these technologies through the lens of education, through the lens of youth development...because we know what's appropriate for adults is not necessarily developmentally appropriate for kids."