The future is here! Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education was the theme of a Professional Development Day for all faculty and staff at D-E on Tuesday, Feb. 18. In her opening remarks, Interim Head of School Preeti Fibiger declared, “To ‘meet the challenges of a changing world,’ we need to understand what those changes are.” This made spotlighting rapidly evolving AI technologies a natural choice for our community.
To ‘meet the challenges of a changing world,’
we need to understand what those changes are.
Chief Innovation Officer Ms. Diana Gross, who has been engaged in work involving Artificial Intelligence for more than 10 years, provided an overview of AI going back to the 1940s. In more recent years, AI is clearly changing the nature of work, teaching and learning.
Referencing the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, Ms. Gross noted an unprecedented demand for skills in the areas of technology and generative AI, which uses machine learning to create content. Furthermore, technology-related skills—including creative thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility, along with curiosity and lifelong learning—are expected to continue to rise in importance over the 2025-2030 period.
AI is a tool, not a replacement for educators… as education is very human centric.
Some of these technologies have raised ethical considerations in education. Ms. Gross underscored, however, that “AI is a tool, not a replacement for educators… as education is very human centric.” The goal for educators is to provide students with guidelines and guardrails.
Faculty members had a choice of 17 different sessions taking place in the Middle School Building, including: “A Beginner’s Guide to AI,” led by Bill Campbell, Associate Director of Technology for Academics; “Thesis Writing With AI,” led by Diane Christian, English Department faculty member; “Combating Deepfakes,” led by Justin Weiner, History Department faculty member; and “AI for Image Creation,” led by Lydia Scrivanich, Art and Design Department faculty member. Some sessions were facilitated by D-E Upper School students and provided a unique opportunity to hear additional perspectives on AI use.
AI builds confidence with students to write a strong paper
Sessions were interactive and offered opportunities to engage in productive discussions about how students can use AI most effectively. When used correctly, “AI builds confidence with students to write a strong paper,” said Ms. Christian during her session. It can be a good first step.
Another topic that arose during conversations was the potential for students with learning differences to have some AI accommodations, similar to how some students are allowed to use a calculator for problem solving.
Risks include relying too much on the technology as well as the human bias inherent in some machine learning algorithms, such as its use in selecting candidates for college admissions, which can cause harm or inequity.
The day concluded with a student panel discussion, moderated by Soham Bafana ’25, and featuring Sylvie Yao ’27, Jared Mosseri ’27, Reya Shah ’27, and Lucas Brown ’25, who spoke on using AI in the classroom.
When asked if they currently use AI in US classes, several pointed to Dr. Jay Lucci’s Latin class, in which he uses Flint K-12 to design custom AI assistants for worksheet generation, for lesson planning, or to serve as students’ thought partner during translations.
“AI is great at giving you a personalized experience,” said Sylvie. “I use it to give myself extra practice and to challenge myself.”
Jared said he uses AI for calendar management and to determine how long his study breaks should be. In addition, it’s helped him in his STEM classes. “I ask a lot of questions in class,” he said to laughs in the audience. “[AI] helps me get some of those answers…It also helps you ask the right questions.”
Reya remarked that “Generative AI can help visual learners.” However, she later added, “Creativity is something chat bots can’t replicate.”
Mr. Weiner said as much during his session: “AI won’t remove the human touch.”
