Superintendent discusses artificial intelligence in Catholic schools

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press
Kimberley Heatherington | OSV News

Educators and students might well use artificial intelligence as they return to school this year. But here’s a question for “extra credit”: How can they use it well?

AI, as it is sometimes called, has both potential and pitfalls, according to David Perda, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Worcester diocese.

There are multiple ways of defining or describing the emerging and rapidly changing phenomenon of AI.

The encyclopedia Britannica website calls AI “the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings.” It says “the term is frequently applied to the project of developing systems endowed with the intellectual processes characteristic of humans, such as the ability to reason, discover meaning, generalize, or learn from past experience.”

There are different ways for human beings to get information and help from AI by using a computer, cell phone or another device that has internet access to ask questions and have a conversation back and forth, over time if necessary, Superintendent Perda said. Materials such as photos and spreadsheets can also be exchanged between the human users and AI, he added.

AI is poised to change Catholic education, experts from around the country have said. Educators are trying to prepare for it.

“I think it’s really important for teachers to know what’s out there so that they both empower their students and transform their assessments,” said Father Nate Wills, a priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. He is director of Higher-Powered Learning, an initiative of the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education, which has hosted seminars about AI in the classroom, teacher training, and AI policies and guidelines, among other things. Higher-Powered Learning offers adaptable policy templates and helps dioceses tailor them to their own needs. Its website also features resources and guidance.

On July 8, OpenAI and Microsoft announced financial support for new AI training for teachers. The American Federation of Teachers said it would use the $23 million to create a national training center.

In the Worcester diocese, AI has been addressed some, but at this time there is not a diocesan-wide school policy about using it, Superintendent Perda said. He said the plan is to work together to determine whether such a policy is needed.

AI was the topic of the professional development day his office organized for local Catholic school teachers and administrators in March 2024, he said.

AI has “really taken off” in the last six months, he said; “I think it’s becoming ... a mainstream tool.”

He said he and school administrators discussed it at their meeting this month. One of the principals told them about a sample policy she got regarding the use of it in schools and she is to give the other administrators copies of that policy, for them to discuss at their meeting in a couple of months.

Before the school department would implement a policy, “we’ve got to understand [AI] ... and try to have a meeting of the minds about it,” Superintendent Perda said. “We’ll work on it as a group and we’ll be careful,” so as not to decide something prematurely.

The superintendent said he did not know of any of the schools in the diocese having their own policies; AI is “emerging” and it is important to continue to provide training about it for teachers and administrators.

He said he put discussion of AI on the agenda for the meeting of the New England Chief Administrators of Catholic Education. As host this September, he creates the agenda, and administrators try to address items relevant to all the dioceses, he said.

In March 2024, when the professional development day was held, “I think there was relatively little awareness of what AI could do,” Superintendent Perda said. “That session opened my eyes [to] the potential ways this technology could change our lives. I got excited about it. … I think it’s a learning tool that, if harnessed correctly, allows people to learn more about everything.”

Among things AI can offer teachers is providing material for extra practice and customizing material for particular students.

Superintendent Perda also gave an example of how it could  specifically benefit Catholic and other Christian schools. As the schools seek to center on Christ across the curriculum, teachers might find it difficult to make connections between the faith and certain subjects. So, teachers could seek suggestions from AI, which synthesizes material from different sources.
“It’s like [accessing] the world’s Catholic encyclopedias, without having to thumb through them,” the superintendent said.

AI simplifies hard-to-understand terms, he said. It excites him to think that in the future this might enable students, some of whom don’t have a solid foundation in the Catholic faith, to learn and understand Church teaching more easily.

However, he said, that also requires teachers and students to double check the information, looking at what sources AI is getting its information from and whether or not they are credible.
He said he has seen some incorrect and outdated information and bias presented by AI. To be free of bias, AI would need to be able to access an equal amount and quality of information on different sides of a subject, he said.

Teachers need to give students a good educational background, which might include helping them use AI to their benefit, not their detriment. But teachers also need to form students in virtue and the importance of community, and model compassion, things AI cannot do, he said.

Among the superintendent’s concerns are potential misuse or overuse of AI.

Educators must make sure students are learning, not simply parroting what they’ve found online or using AI to do all their work for them. School plagiarism policies might have to be applied, and changes might need to be made in tests and assignments.

“We want our kids to be critical thinkers with a Catholic worldview,” Superintendent Perda said. “We really want the students to develop skills” and use their own creativity and imagination.

“What you’re doing with that knowledge to make sense of and improve our world” is key, he said.

“We want to make sure that humans are still at the forefront and … we’re not letting AI dominate our lives,” Superintendent Perda said in summary. “We want to remember our human dignity.”