SEATTLE — A bill that would prohibit certain uses of artificial intelligence in public schools is moving forward at the Washington State Legislature.
Senate Bill 5956 puts six prohibitions in place related to using “automated decision makers. Those prohibitions are:
Using an automated decision system as the sole or determinative basis for any student discipline-related decision.
Imposing an emergency removal, suspension, or expulsion; referring to law enforcement; or assigning to an alternative education setting based solely on: a prediction, score, or classification generated by an automated decision system; or data from a school surveillance technology, without independent human investigation and consideration of context.
Using an automated decision system to generate a risk score or similar predictive classification for an individual student.
Maintaining internal lists or watchlists of students based on an automated decision system.
Entering into a contract with a vendor or school service provider that requires or authorizes the vendor or provider to engage in these prohibited activities.
Using biometric data to generate or infer emotional states, mental health conditions, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, or other sensitive psychological or personal characteristics of a student.
“Those tools need to have guardrails,” the bill’s joint sponsor, Sen. T’wina Nobles (D-Fircrest) said. “Technology is moving so quickly.”
Nobles said one intention of the bill is to ensure that no student is being mistreated because of the AI technology.
“We want to make sure that our systems don’t amplify existing disparities,” she said. “And don’t disproportionately impact students of color, students with disabilities, students who identify as LGBTQ+ or other protected groups.”
Across the country, there have been instances where AI security systems, for example, have impacted a school day.
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For example, in Maryland, the system thought a bag of empty Doritos was a firearm, and it led to that student being handcuffed.
In Florida, AI tech thought a clarinet was a firearm, leading to an hours-long school lockdown.
“False alarms have triggered unnecessary trauma of our teenagers, of our children,” Derick Harris of the Black Education Strategy Roundtable said.
But the legislation is not intended to outlaw the use of AI within public schools, only to ensure that the work that AI does still includes a human element.
“The data points may be brought forward from the technology, but the conclusion that is drawn and the analysis of the data should not be the machine,” Senator Lisa Wellman (D-Mercer Island) said. Wellman is also Chair of the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee and joint-sponsor of the bill.
During its first hearing, two supporters of the bill testified in committee, and no opponents.
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The bill is scheduled for executive session in committee on Thursday, where it could be voted on, amended, or not moved forward/changed at all.