Danish high schools encourage use of AI for homework

They’ve taken a different approach that seeks to take away the “forbidden fruit” charm of the technology

Five Danish high schools have launched a 2-year project, which will teach students how to properly consult AI tools, such as ChatGPT, rather than prohibit them in the classroom. The approach taken by the Nordic teachers stands in stark contrast to the common reaction across the world on part of educational institutions, which were horrified by the sudden popularity of generative AI tech, which could write long essays and assignments in the matter of minutes.

Expectedly, many students have started using these tools in order to avoid doing the hard work and submit ready-made homework while learning nothing in the process.

Mette Mølgaard Pedersen, an English teacher at Horsens Gymnasium in central Denmark, however, upon noticing this decided to take a different approach. Seeing the futility in fighting the rise of technology that is here to stay, she decided to embrace the change and instead help her students to better prepare for it.

Evading an arms race between AI developers and detectors

That’s why, she decided not to prohibit the use of ChatGPT, which would only have the effect of creating an air of an attractive mystique around it. Instead, she opted to talk to her students about it openly and to develop a project, which would teach them how to use it smartly, in a way that makes these tools into their learning allies.

For instance, in a recent English class, students were tasked with analysing a short story first by themselves and then using an AI chatbot. That proved to be beneficial because it demonstrated both the capabilities but also the limitations of artificial intelligence vis-à-vis the human mind.

"It is also a misunderstanding to think that the primary goal of the school system is to detect students who cheat," said Pedersen, speaking to Euronews. She explained that trying to do outdo the AI tools by detecting them is ultimately futile because developers will come up with new ways to outdo the detectors.

How the educational sphere across the globe will ultimately respond and adjust to the boom of AI tools remains to be seen, but certainly this Danish experiment can serve as a model to consider.