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A Considered Approach to Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom
This winter, Woodberry outlined a new policy aimed at bringing clarity to a rapidly evolving issue: the role of artificial intelligence in education. The policy, introduced by Assistant Headmaster for Academic Affairs Abbie Mills, seeks to establish guidelines on how students may use AI while encouraging critical engagement with the technology. It reads in part:
Third and fourth formers may not use AI. We expect their instruction to come from live humans, whether it is their teacher, peer, or tutor. In the fifth and sixth form, boys can use any kind of tutor, including AI. However, tutors (human or otherwise) are never allowed to assist a boy with graded assignments, but may review concepts or past work. Furthermore, AI should never be used to replace or supplement assigned reading unless permission has been granted by the teacher to do so.
For many students and teachers, the emergence of AI tools like ChatGPT has raised questions about academic integrity and creativity. Prior to the new policy, expectations around AI usage were largely undefined. Now, faculty members, in particular those who teach juniors and seniors, are encouraged to set their own standards for how—and if—students may incorporate AI in their coursework.
“I see the use of AI in my class as an opportunity to experiment, with caution,” said Paul Erb, an English teacher. “Sometimes I’ll ask, ‘What does ChatGPT think?’ Or we’ll engage in a public dialogue with the bot. I also want to model curiosity mixed with caution.”
Erb acknowledges AI’s potential to aid in brainstorming and idea generation. “It has saved me time in thinking about ideas,” he said. “And it has kept me from bothering my colleagues with questions.” But AI’s capabilities also raise profound questions. “It has posed some of the most philosophical questions I’ve heard: Why do people matter? Does language speak to us? Have we built a tool we can’t control?”
For students, AI presents both opportunities and challenges. Morgan Jay ’25 sees its benefits in specific contexts. “With your teacher's permission, I think AI can be helpful for completing busywork, like reframing something you’ve written to match a slightly different word count,” Jay said. “I've only used AI in class a few times, and never for anything graded.”
Yet Jay also believes the school must reckon with AI’s growing influence. “The proliferation of AI is becoming a huge problem,” Jay said. “In the future, English and history classes should prioritize in-class work. Dr. Boesen, for example, has done a really good job using DigiExam for in-class papers and reflections, which has minimized the temptation to use AI.”
Mills hopes students will ultimately see AI as a tool, rather than a shortcut. She sees echoes of past technological disruptions in the current debate. “When I was a student, the internet was brand new, and many of the same fears we’re having now were shared back then,” she said. “We want our students to learn how to read, write, and think. And just because AI is getting better at those things, we don’t want students to get worse at them.”
>> Reporting by Bobby Hunter ’25
>> Reporting by Bobby Hunter ’25
Woodberry Forest School is an exceptional private school community for high school boys in grades nine through twelve. It is one of the top boarding schools in the United States and one of the only all-boys, all-boarding schools in the country.
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Woodberry Forest admits students of any race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, and national or ethnic origin to all of the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs. The school is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant students.