How has AI impacted Berkshire schools, colleges and universities?

A year on from Chat GPT's launch on November 22, the open AI chatbox interface was one of the first times AI was widely talked about.

Now AI is becoming increasingly good at performing human tasks, with self-driving cars implementing the technology.

The technology's uses in education have been widely debated with schools and universities across the country claiming students have handed in AI-generated essays.

We took a look at what the picture is in Berkshire, asking secondary schools, colleges and the University of Reading for their take on AI.

Interestingly the four institutes who were open to comment on AI in education saw the tech development in a positive light.

Headteacher of Reading School, Mr Dimmick, said AI is applied in learning, teaching and staff software.

"Most students and teaching staff would likely be very unaware of this.

"The reality is that it's almost impossible to avoid the use of AI in any walk of life, and education is no exception.

"The standard tools that we use in the course of our work, including Microsoft's 365 platform and Google all employ AI and machine learning to assist their users.

"However, if we were to consider our deliberate adoption of AIs such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, then the answer is, no, we haven't explicitly applied their use."

The school anticipates that it will soon be implementing AI as a research tool, generating exam-style questions and as a system to analyse student data.

Previously students had attempted to write portions of coursework or generate snippets of computer code, however, fresh guidance published by JCQ has helped to advise students on how AI can be used and how it should be referenced.

Mr Dimmick added: "It is my opinion that the wider use of AI does present a range of scenarios that, if not managed well, has the potential for negatively affecting the wellbeing of students." 

Bracknell & Wokingham College and Reading College, both under Activate Learning, claim to be the first college group in the UK to have released a position statement on AI.

Kim Blanchard, Group Director of Education and Artificial Intelligence at Activate Learning, said: “We recognise Artificial Intelligence has had a profound impact on teaching and learning.

"Whilst we recognise that it’s a really important tool, we need to teach our students to use it properly by empowering our staff to understand the benefits and pitfalls and to recognise the challenges and limitations.  

“Technologies have now been put in place to prevent the use of AI tools like Chat GPT for being used in assessments in the way that we have tools that detect plagiarism.

"We continue to work with our examination boards to ensure that we remain increasingly vigilant to the use of this technology by our students."

Over in Slough, Langley College has an open approach to AI and its uses.

Daniel Fairbairn, Group Director for the Windsor Forest Group, said: "I think it brings a lot of positive change. At the moment, our approach is we look at the use of AI in assessment as plagiarism.

"But that approach is governed by our awarding bodies as opposed to by us.

"We're really passionate as an organization about the use of AI and we use it quite effectively as a business to improve some of our backend services.

"I think AI is going to profoundly change the face of assessment and how we assess students over the next few years. It's here and it's not going to go away."

Progressing in the education sector, those wishing to apply to university now have to declare that their personal statement hasn't been copied or provided from another source, including artificial intelligence software - according to UCAS's most recent guidelines (December 2023).

"Generating all or a large part of your personal statement from an AI tool such as ChatGPT, and presenting it as your own words, could be considered cheating by universities and colleges and could affect your chances of an offer," UCAS states.

On approaching the University of Reading on how it is used with its courses, Professor Alan Howard, co-chair of the University of Reading Working Group on Generative Artificial Intelligence, said: “We have consulted students, staff and external advisors on the University's approach to using generative artificial intelligence tools in a wide range of teaching and learning settings. 

“We have since produced various staff guides on generative artificial intelligence, an update to the University academic integrity and academic misconduct policy, and a guide on generative AI for students.

“The University is committed to embracing generative AI to enhance education while safeguarding our academic standards. The University's Position Statement on AI draws on best practice guidance from the UK Quality Assurance Agency and other sector bodies.”