Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly prominent role in Hawaiʻi education. For many schools, it’s a race to keep up, with some leading the pack, while others remain unsure how to integrate it. From the opening of the state’s first AI-focused charter school to new coursework and teachers grappling with AI-generated assignments, educators and students face varying levels of engagement and skepticism. The article explores how Hawaiian schools are adapting to this rapidly changing technology, focusing on responsible use, critical evaluation, and preparing students for an AI-driven future, rather than outright banning the tools.
McKinley High School
At McKinley High School, teacher Cynthia Reves has observed students potentially using AI for assignments, leading her to revert to traditional paper-and-pencil work and reduce device usage. She questions the 'honest' use of AI, given the unreliability of AI detection tools. Reves has adapted by assigning in-class writing and requiring teacher sign-offs for homework completed in study hall. She's starting to integrate AI more by having students critically compare their work with AI-generated responses, acknowledging the technology's permanence and trusting her students' developing judgment.
Mid-Pacific Institute
Leslie Gleim's preschool students at Mid-Pacific Institute confidently believe they can outsmart ChatGPT. Gleim uses ChatGPT to transcribe student discussions on topics like a botanical garden field trip, then asks students to evaluate its summaries. This practice helps her synthesize observations and encourages critical thinking in her young students, who are skeptical of AI's answers. Gleim emphasizes that AI is a tool, not an ultimate source of truth, and openly points out its errors to her students.
Hawaiʻi Technology Academy
Kingston Collman, a recent graduate, initially worried about AI taking over his game development career. He pivoted to using AI to enhance social media content creation, developing an AI assistant for script generation and video planning, drastically cutting down production time. While he aims for efficiency, he worries about the rise of 'AI slop' and the blurring lines between real and AI-generated content. Another graduate, Adriana Hunt, uses AI for marketing her art but refuses to use it for creation, fearing it would compromise her creativity and set unrealistic artistic standards. Both acknowledge AI's inevitability but emphasize responsible and limited reliance.
Kūlia Academy
Kūlia Academy, Hawaiʻi's first AI-focused middle and high school, emphasizes data science and coding. Students learn foundational concepts like 'bimodal distributions' to understand AI's mechanics. Executive director Andy Gokce aims to equip students to become future AI engineers and cybersecurity experts, rather than just consumers. Students use ChatGPT for essay feedback and train AI models. The school's philosophy is to empower students to lead in developing new technology by understanding its inner workings, not just using its outputs.
Waiākea Intermediate School
At Waiākea Intermediate, sixth graders in Tyler Kojima's world history class engage in a challenge to 'beat AI.' Students defend historical inventions to a skeptical AI chatbot within a limited number of messages, fostering critical thinking. Initially, students were wary of AI, but Kojima uses tools like chatbots and image generators to make history more engaging and concrete. He also sets clear boundaries for AI use, ensuring students understand responsible engagement and its capabilities as a tool, not a substitute for learning.
