Introduction
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming a part of every industry, every field, and a majority of jobs. Within the next few years, most K-12 schools and colleges will integrate AI into their curricula. This will potentially come through assisting educators with lesson plans, helping students with research assignments, and even creating specialized feedback for each student. The integration of AI into education is not a matter of if but when. The problem is that unions, left-wing activists, and groups in the education field are already setting the foundation to use these AI tools to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to students during their formative years.
The goal of these groups is to implement DEI ideology into AI before it can be fully integrated into America’s education system. If DEI is embedded in AI before schools adopt these new tools, then DEI, as part of AI, becomes institutionalized in the nation’s schools once the tools are adopted. Defending Education has compiled the following list of significant unions and association groups that are using their platforms and resources to encourage schools and corporations to adopt DEI as a core pillar of AI.
These organizations will often use the phrase “algorithmic bias” with “equity” or even in the place of the word equity. Algorithmic bias is associated with the claim that AI systems are typically created by white or Asian men, and as a result, the answers that AI systems may provide to students or educators will be influenced by these specific white and Asian men who created them. In reality, most AI systems are built to provide the most accurate and truthful answers, regardless of anyone’s race or identity. The goal of these organizations is to embed DEI into AI tools to ensure that students receive politicized answers and receive a politicized education in the nation’s classrooms.
This list is not comprehensive. The list represents the largest unions and associations promoting the adoption of DEI in AI tools for schools.
Key Highlights
- The National Education Association (NEA) has a sample school board policy for school districts to adopt that mandate for DEI-aligned ideology to be integrated into any AI tools used for classrooms in order to avoid “algorithmic bias.”
- The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) created the National Academy for AI Instruction with the intent to provide AI training to teachers with the idea that AI tools have “bias” and “equity” issues that need to be corrected. This is a joint $23 million initiative kickstarted with the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
- The California Teachers Association (CTA) assisted the California Department of Education in creating guidance for K-12 schools with language advocating for “educators to approach AI with an equity lens.”
- The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) promoted the idea that “white males” are a problem in the creation of AI and that current AI represents the “New Jim Code.”
- The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) has published several articles promoting the idea of integrating equity initiatives into AI. The organization published one article that stated: “Create a checklist of must-have features and deal-breakers. Ask vendors about their efforts to address algorithmic biases that might affect students.”
- The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) claims that AI tools should be used to advance equity by stating: “Ensure that such tools advance and do not undermine equity given that AI systems are trained on human data that may reflect biases, particularly against students of color and those with disabilities.”