In a notable turn of events, the United Nations issued recommendations for the regulation of AI tools, such as the popular chatbot ChatGPT, in primary school classrooms. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), cautioned that public authorities were ill-prepared to handle the ethical implications of implementing “generative” Artificial Intelligence programs in educational institutions.

Based in Paris, UNESCO expressed concerns that excessive reliance on AI programs instead of human teachers might negatively impact a child’s emotional well-being while also making them susceptible to manipulation. “Generative AI can be a tremendous opportunity for human development, but it can also cause harm and prejudice,” UNESCO representative Audrey Azoulay stressed.

Generative AI took center stage in the preceding year when ChatGPT demonstrated its proficiency in generating conversations, essays, and poems based on bare-minimum prompts. This development raised alarms about potential cheating and plagiarism in schools and higher education institutions. However, investors have still generously financed the field, and proponents have eyed education as a prospective lucrative market.

According to UNESCO’s guidelines, AI tools have immense potential in assisting children with special needs and could serve as an adversary in “Socratic dialogues” or as research aids. However, these tools would only prove safe and effective if the people directly involved with them, such as teachers, students, and researchers, participate in their design process and with proper regulations set by governing authorities.

While the guidance did not advocate for a minimum age for introducing AI tools in education, it highlighted that the current age limit for using AI tool, ChatGPT, is 13. However, there is a growing consensus among experts who believe that the age threshold to be too low, with calls to increase the age limit to 16.

As generative AI continues to evolve rapidly, ensuring its ethical implementation in our society should remain a top priority. The guidance from the UN could serve as an essential first step towards achieving that global objective.