Minnesota schools embrace AI — cautiously
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Many Minnesota school districts that were initially suspicious of AI tools like ChatGPT are now working to embrace them — while also trying to guard against the risks that they'll inspire cheaters or invade students' privacy.
Why it matters: "The reality is AI is going to redefine the workforce that all of our students are going to step into," Anthony Padrnos, a board member for the education technology organization CoSN Minnesota, told Axios.
- Plus, Anoka-Hennepin schools instructional technology coordinator Justin Wewers adds, "If we're not talking about it as educators to students, then who is?"
State of play: As recently as two years ago, a handful of Twin Cities school districts banned generative artificial intelligence tools, and many treated them as threats, said Padrnos.
- But last summer, "the tide really shifted" as schools leaned into the "pivotal moment" facing education.
What they're saying: It's a big adjustment. One St. Paul Public Schools teacher summed it up to district administrator Phil Wacker: "I want to use this all day every day… and I want to go live in a cabin in the woods with no technology."
How it's being used: AI tools can rewrite tests, convert texts to an easier reading level or create a grading rubric — and that's just a short list of potential teacher time-savers.
- One choir director used AI-generated art to help his students memorize their music, said Wewers.
- Students can use tools like NotebookLM to create custom study guides — even in podcast form — and chatbots to critique their writing.
Friction point: While cheating tops many parents' and educators' list of AI fears, teachers have tools to mitigate AI-driven cheating.
- They can lock students out of other browser tabs while taking a test, use AI detection software … or revert to good ol-fashioned paper and pencil.
Yes, but: Those countermeasures aren't foolproof. Research has found AI detectors are "easily gamed" and are especially unreliable when the human writer's first language isn't English, Wacker notes.
Zoom out: More than cheating, what most worries Padrnos, an Osseo schools administrator, are the elements of AI that schools can't control.
- Data entered into Gemini or Copilot through an official school account is generally secure — but other AI companies are still essentially startups: "Are they going to be here two years from now?" Padrnos asks.
- Wacker worries about AI's tendency to reflect the biases of the humans who created it. When prompted to depict suburban vs. urban schools, he's seen AI paint two very different pictures — one chaotic, disordered, and populated by students of color; the other orderly, and filled with white faces.
Between the lines: Even the most enthusiastic "early adopter" schools nationwide are "still piloting AI strategies, not scaling them," according to a recent report from the Center for Reinventing Public Education.
- They're also concerned about a lack of sustainable funding or quality training for staff, the academic think tank found.
The bottom line: AI has changed the world, and schools will have to figure out how to teach in it. Teachers know it won't be easy.
- "Today is the dumbest AI will ever be," Wewers said. "It's just going to keep getting smarter."