A few years back, there was a debate in the Granite State about police body cameras. We thought, sure, but how about putting them on Teachers? A few years later, look at what a great idea that would have been.
More than ever, parents are concerned about what happens in classrooms. Body cams on teachers should still be a thing. They are public employees. But so far, not joy. Unions, schools, and even the Department of Education appear concerned about surveillance when it comes to classrooms.
In a newly released report titled “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning,” the DOE warned that such surveillance could make teachers’ jobs “nearly impossible” and emphasized that AI should never be a replacement for human teachers.
While acknowledging the potential benefits of AI in enhancing teaching efficiency and tailoring lesson plans to individual students, the report also highlights the risks of increased surveillance of teachers associated with AI implementation.
What exactly are public employees doing with public dollars in public buildings with the children of “The Public” paying for it that makes knowing what happens so dangerous?
Drawing a parallel with voice assistants in households, the report cautions that while AI systems can assist with tasks, they may also inadvertently access private information. The same dilemma, it argues, could arise in classrooms, posing challenges for teachers.
“When we enable a voice assistant in the kitchen, it might help us with simple household tasks like setting a cooking timer,” the report said. “And yet the same voice assistant might hear things that we intended to be private. This kind of dilemma will occur in classrooms and for teachers.”
Public employees using public equipment do not have privacy rights during the work they are paid to do. The dilemma is why that is of a more significant concern than the right of parents to have transparency. That brings me back to body cams which I admit would be a bit cumbersome, so how about cameras in public classrooms instead?
And if not, why not, and what are you afraid of?