LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. — With the new school year upon us, students have more tools at their fingertips to help them with their educational goals. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Orange County Department of Education hired two people to help the 28 local districts with their AI initiatives 

  • Rylee Robles, a high school senior, is already learning about the tools available through AI

  • California and Oregon are the only two states to offer official guidance on AI in education.

  • A study done by Inspired Education finds that students who used AI saw their grades improve by eight percentage points. 

Rylee Robles is a senior at Los Alamitos High School and is trying to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to using the technology to help her with her studies.

“I think it’s an incredible tool to elevate your own work,” Robles said. “I know it’s been very controversial, in especially film, and in a school setting, but I think it’s a really valuable piece to build off of your own work.”

With tools like ChatGPT and Open AI becoming more mainstream, the technology is being embraced by the Orange County Department of Education to be used as a tool to aid students with their learning. OCDE hired Kunal Dalal and Wes Kriesel as administrators of AI and innovation. The pair will serve as resources for the 28 local districts in Orange County to help with their AI initiatives. Dalal and Kriesel see AI as a way to enhance the education experience for students.

On top of using AI software to help with writing tasks, the technology can also help bring the imagination of students to life. 

“Because of the power of AI, which is the ability to generate language, ability to generate images, and it’s continually improving,” Dalal said. “Because of that, it’s almost like we would be at a deficit if we didn’t use AI.”

California and Oregon are the only two states to offer official guidance on AI in education, but more states will likely look at how AI can benefit students in the coming years. For Kriesel, it’s important not to jump the gun on implementing new AI technology, but rather identify gaps in education and then figure out how the OCDE can help fill those gaps with AI. 

“What do we think education should be, what do we want for students to be learning, what do we want our jobs to look like?” Kriesel said. 

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The use of AI is expected to rise in the coming years. Younger students will begin seeing more examples of the technology being introduced in education, so some experts suggest staying ahead of the curve will help youth as they get ready to enter the workforce.

"They’re going to be working with those technologies throughout their academic career, and as they sort of enter the workforce, or enter college, right?" said Associate Professor of Education, and the Associate Director of the Center for Generative AI at USC, Stephen Aguilar. "So the earlier students have access to emerging technology, the better their experience will be moving forward."

Robles has taken an interest in AI after meeting with like-minded students. She connected with Dalal and Kriesel and they are helping her learn about new technologies, and how AI can help her be a better student. Robles is an engineering ambassador at her school. She's working alongside some of her fellow students to help create an animatronic version of the school's mascot. 

"I can use AI, ChatGPT, all these different platforms to create a story about our griffin," Robles said. "And be able to share that story with throughout the community and throughout other high schools as well."