Use of large language models like ChatGPT began creeping into classrooms in 2023, Notus teachers Christine Striefel and Jess Miller recall.

“Those stinkers,” Striefel thought when students’ writing suddenly exceeded their capabilities — or when their style suddenly reflected the increasingly recognizable voice of artificial intelligence-generated writing.

The issue has gained widespread attention nationally — and in Idaho. Three years after ChatGPT’s classroom debut, legislators have directed the state to create guidance on AI use in schools.

State superintendent Debbie Critchfield said the guidance will help teachers manage anxiety over AI, create funding for services, and help protect sensitive information from being harvested by AI companies. Her department plans to have a proposed policy on the State Board of Education’s August meeting agenda. 

But implementing Senate Bill 1227 has hurdles, Critchfield said.

“This is one of the most misunderstood pieces of legislation coming out of the session,” she told Idaho Education News. “I had, frankly, a negative reaction from parents saying, ‘Why are you legislating that AI is going to be in schools? Why are you forcing teachers to use AI?’”

Districts, administrators and teachers can still choose not to use AI – with the possible exception of the new Idaho Reading Indicator test, which requires students to read aloud to Amira, an AI agent that records and analyzes their reading.

Gauging teacher capabilities with AI is another task. When it comes to new tech, Critchfield puts educators in three groups: those on the cutting edge who accept new things, those who refuse anything they aren’t familiar with, and those in the middle who want to use AI but aren’t sure how.

“I think this policy is going to help those kind of in the middle,” Critchfield said.

While some teachers are eager to use AI, they’re still behind the students, Critchfield said. Her goal is to catch teachers up — and use the technology responsibly.

AI services tend to offer a free version and a paid subscription. Critchfield said many teachers using free versions such as ChatGPT do not realize the software harvests their data, potentially compromising student privacy. The new guidance will include industry partnerships and grants to provide paid subscriptions to protect information.

Another challenge is reliability. Large language models, like ChatGPT and DeepSeek, sometimes generate false information called “hallucinations,” which include false data points, made-up historical events and nonexistent sources, among other things. Critchfield hopes the guidance will advise teachers on using AI without relying on it too heavily or accidentally introducing falsities into their teaching.

‘I can save myself a lot of time’  

Critchfield said teachers are shaving hours off their lesson planning with AI. Some use ChatGPT, others use education-specific tools like Magicschool or Eduaide.

Striefel, who teaches English to Notus Junior and Senior High students, uses ChatGPT to write examples for her students.

When teaching sophomores about logical fallacies, she asked ChatGPT to write an essay full of them.

“For me to do that – I could – but it’s going to take me a while, when I can save myself a lot of time,” Striefel said.

Next door to Striefel’s English classroom, Miller teaches social studies. To create worksheets and adapt her content to Idaho social studies standards, Miller uses Eduaide, which has a range of features, including differentiating instructional materials to meet individual student needs.

Because AI enables such rapid adaptation of materials, some envision a future with customized learning for every student.

A consultant who helps the Boise district with planning recently suggested AI can enable individualized education programs (IEPs) for every student in the district. “Shouldn’t every student have an individual instruction plan to get them to where they need to get to?” the consultant asked.

It’s a ‘constant battle’ 

Miller started teaching seven years ago, making her a de facto technology resource for older colleagues who didn’t learn to teach with software.

“I kind of spearheaded getting a handful of our teachers accounts on (Eduaide) and a professional development training,” she said.

She still uses Eduaide, but she’s unsure how well it stuck with many of the teachers she tried to bring onboard.

Striefel’s approach, on the other hand, includes a more scaled approach to technology, even if students object. “We’re going to do this by hand and your hand’s going to cramp up. Sorry,” she said of some writing assignments for her students.

And some Notus students aren’t closed off to that idea — at least when asked to share their opinions publicly. When EdNews asked a class of Notus eighth-graders if they prefer to work digitally or with pen and paper, almost every student preferred the old-school method.

Notus senior Anthony Guevara said he often uses ChatGPT if he is struggling to understand something. The tool will explain things to him in simpler terms.

Still, the teachers said they must be careful about how they allow students to use AI, which they believe can allow students to drift through assignments without acquiring meaningful skills.

“It’s this constant battle of navigating that conversation, especially with the older kids,” said Miller. “We’re not just here to teach content — we’re here to teach skills.”