Franklin Regional approves summer artificial intelligence program

Franklin Regional school board members ultimately approved a proposed summer program focused on artificial intelligence, after members of its curriculum committee spoke with program organizers about their concerns.

Inspirit AI is an eight-session summer program developed and taught by graduates of Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT.

“Students will learn the fundamental concepts of AI and gain a deeper understanding of how AI is used to build ChatGPT and generative AI, fight the covid-19 pandemic, power self-driving cars and more,” according to a program description provided by Inspirit AI. “Students will learn to program AI using Python … (and) discuss ethics and bias within AI.”

Some school board members objected to ethics and bias being taught as part of the voluntary course, and a representative from Inspirit gave a presentation at the board’s most recent curriculum committee meeting.

“They offered to remove the ethics and bias section of the program, and that’s not what the board or the committee really wanted,” said school board member Joshua Zebrak, who attended the committee meeting. “That wasn’t what I wanted, either. I just wanted to make sure the ethics and bias portion was being taught in an objective way. … I wanted them to focus on things that are objectively true, as opposed to an opinion.”

School board and curriculum committee member Scott Weinman said the discussion with Inspirit was helpful.

“I asked what they meant by ‘ethics and bias,’ if it was more about looking at the code and what output it provides, and how to minimize ethics and bias within the coding, and it was,” Weinman said. “We also asked if the kids can choose whatever project they want to work on — that there’s no steering them in a particular direction.”

At the school board’s April meeting, Assistant Superintendent Matthew Delp said projects within the Inspirit program are chosen by students, rather than proscribed by instructors.

“I’m not looking to control what a student is personally interested in,” Zebrak said. “I just don’t want it being dictated from a place of power, like someone with a master’s degree from an Ivy League school.”

The board voted unanimously to approve the program. Board members Mark Kozlosky and Scott Weinman were absent.