With the growing prominence of AI in the modern day, Dawson will now be incorporating a new AI program called Flint into its curriculum to address concerns about AI in its AI policy. Jeff Ellenbogen, creator of the school’s current policy on AI, says that his goal is to get students and teachers to work with the new technology, not be replaced by it.

This year, every incoming freshman will utilize Flint in their human development class, and outside of the high school students may start using AI in 3rd grade. Flint is an AI tool meant to be used specifically for schools, and can be fine tuned to help students in a way that aligns with the school’s values. Flint has been trained so that even if it was asked to do an entire assignment for you, it would refuse so that people will still have to use their own ideas for their work.

Anne Hecox, an administrator and English teacher for Dawson, has more to say on the subject. Hecox saw the growing prominence of AI over the course of the prior school year, and then was motivated for the school to create a formal policy on it. She says that that new technology has good potential with how it could change how someone views education, but also notes that it is a risky technology. She said its uses for plagiarism had increased in quantity, and the English department in particular had the most instances. One way that the school will be combating this is to shift towards more pencil and paper writing, rather than almost entirely digital.