AI in Community Colleges: Navigating a Human-Centered Future in the Shadow of AB 2370 – Faculty Focus

Note: This article used collaboration between the human author and the AI programs of ChatGPT, Copilot, and Meta AI.

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) has ushered in a new era for community college education, presenting both exciting possibilities and complex challenges. While AI-powered tools offer potential to enhance teaching and learning, concerns about AI replacing human instructors have sparked a complex debate. This debate peaked when on July 2, Governor Newsome signed into law Assembly Bill 2370, authored by Assembly member Sabrina Cervantes and supported by Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (FACCC). The Bill, an act to add Section 87359.2 to the Education Code, requires that the instructor of record, both credit and non-credit, for community college courses must meet the minimum qualifications set by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to teach and serve as a faculty member. 

While AI can be a powerful tool to augment the teaching experience, human instructors remain essential for fostering student engagement, critical thinking, and emotional well-being. Weingarten underscores the importance of teacher involvement in shaping how AI is implemented in classrooms (American Federation of Teachers, 2023). While acknowledging AI’s impressive capabilities, she also cautions about potential risks like plagiarism and the dissemination of misinformation (American Federation of Teachers, 2023). In essence, Weingarten views AI as a potential asset in education, but she emphasizes the irreplaceable role of human educators. 

The passage of Assembly Bill 2370 in California underscores the state’s commitment to preserving the essential role of qualified human instructors in the classroom. The future of community college education lies in striking a balance between embracing technological innovation and preserving the irreplaceable value of human-centered instruction. 

California’s Three-Pronged Approach to AI Regulation

California’s legislative efforts surrounding AI in education highlight a three-pronged approach to regulating this rapidly evolving technology:

1. Prioritization of Human Teachers and Ethical Education: By banning AI as a sole instructor, the legislation prioritizes human interaction and personalized attention for effective learning, particularly in subjects requiring nuanced understanding and support. This aligns with the broader movement to ensure ethical development and use of AI while promoting human-centered learning experiences. However, the emphasis on human teachers could limit the exploration of AI tools that might support ethical education practices.
2. Worker Protections: The legislation safeguards teaching jobs from displacement by AI, reflecting broader concerns about AI’s potential impact on the workforce across industries. This aligns with the broader movement to ensure ethical development and use of AI while protecting human workers from displacement. However, this could create a sense of anxiety among educators who might see AI as a threat to their jobs rather than a potential partner in enhancing the teaching experience.
3. Ethical and Quality Considerations: AB 2370 emphasizes the irreplaceable role of human teachers in providing emotional intelligence, empathy, and critical thinking skills, positioning AI as a helpful tool rather than a replacement. This approach reflects a growing awareness that AI, while powerful, cannot fully replicate the complex and nuanced interactions that human educators bring to the classroom. However, the emphasis on ethical and quality considerations may lead to a cautious approach to adopting AI tools that could potentially enhance educational quality.

While the bill aims to protect human educators, it may hinder AI-enhanced education innovation. Instructors could face burnout from increased workloads without AI support. It overlooks AI’s potential to complement human teaching:

• Limit the adoption of AI tools: By prohibiting AI as a primary instructor, the bill may discourage the development and implementation of AI-powered tools that could enhance teaching and learning experiences. This could stifle innovation and limit the potential of AI to support educators and students in new and creative ways.
• Increase the workload of human instructors: Without the support of AI tools to handle certain tasks, such as grading or providing feedback, human instructors may face increased workloads and potentially struggle to meet the needs of all their students. This could lead to burnout and a decrease in teacher morale.
• Create a false dichotomy between AI and human instruction: By focusing solely on the role of AI as a replacement for human instructors, the bill may miss the opportunity to explore the potential of AI as a valuable tool to augment human teaching and learning. This could limit the potential for AI to be used in a complementary way to enhance the teaching experience.

Human instructors remain indispensable in fostering student engagement, critical thinking, and emotional well-being – aspects that are difficult to fully replicate through AI alone. While AI cannot fully replace the human element in education, it has the potential to enhance teaching and learning in various ways:

• Time Management: AI can free up valuable time for educators by handling administrative tasks, such as grading or providing personalized feedback. This allows teachers to focus on more meaningful interactions with their students, fostering deeper learning and engagement.
• Personalized Learning: AI-powered platforms can adapt to individual student needs, providing customized learning materials and pacing. This can help address learning gaps and ensure that all students have access to materials that are relevant and engaging to them.
• Resource Enhancement: AI can provide students with access to a vast pool of information and resources, supporting their research and project development. This can empower students to become more independent learners, taking ownership of their learning and exploring topics in depth.

However, it’s crucial to recognize the limitations of AI. While AI can provide valuable tools and resources, it cannot fully replicate the complex and nuanced interactions that human educators bring to the classroom.

• Emotional Intelligence: AI lacks the emotional intelligence and empathy necessary to provide effective support and guidance to students. Human teachers can connect with students on a personal level, understanding their individual needs and challenges, and offering encouragement and support.
• Critical Thinking Skills: AI is primarily focused on providing information and completing tasks, rather than fostering critical thinking skills. Human teachers can guide students to question, analyze, and synthesize information, developing their abilities to think critically and solve complex problems.
• Nuanced Communication: AI struggles with nuanced communication and understanding context. Human teachers can communicate effectively with students, providing clear explanations, adapting their language and tone to different learners, and engaging in meaningful dialogue.

Recommendations for Community College Faculty: Navigating the AI Landscape

Given the current legislative landscape and the complex interplay between AI and human-centered teaching, community college faculty must navigate a delicate balance. Some recommendations include:

• AI as a Teaching Ally: Recognize that AI can be a powerful tool to enhance teaching, but it cannot fully replace the role of human instructors. Focus on using AI to augment teaching strategies rather than seeing it as a replacement for human educators.
  • Example: A history teacher uses an AI-powered chatbot to answer students’ basic questions about historical facts, freeing up time to engage in deeper discussions and critical analysis with students during class.

• Focus on Human-Centered Learning: Prioritize the development of critical thinking skills, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal communication, areas where AI currently falls short. Emphasize the unique abilities that human educators bring to the classroom, such as empathy, understanding of human nuances, and the ability to foster social-emotional learning.
  • Example: An English teacher leads a group discussion on empathy and perspective-taking after reading a novel, fostering emotional intelligence skills that AI cannot replicate.

• Stay Informed: Keep abreast of AI advancements and their potential applications in education. Seeking out opportunities for professional development and training in AI-related technologies. Actively engage with resources and workshops that provide insights into the use of AI in teaching and learning.
  • Example: A science teacher attends a workshop on using AI-powered simulations in the classroom and implements a virtual lab experiment that allows students to explore complex concepts visually.

• Engage in Ethical Discussions: Participate in discussions about the ethical implications of AI in education and advocate for responsible and equitable uses of AI. Explore concerns around data privacy, algorithmic bias, and potential inequities that might arise from the use of AI in education.
  • Example: A computer science teacher leads a class debate on the ethical implications of using AI in college admissions processes, encouraging students to consider issues of fairness and bias.

• Collaborate and Share Best Practices: Work with colleagues to explore innovative ways to integrate AI into the classroom and share best practices. Collaborate with colleagues to develop strategies for using AI tools in a way that complements human teaching and enhances the learning experience.
  • Example: A group of math teachers at a school form a working group to explore and share effective ways to use AI-powered adaptive learning platforms to provide personalized practice problems for students.

• Advocate for Policy Changes: Engage with policymakers and advocate for legislation that promotes ethical and responsible use of AI in education while preserving the value of human-centered teaching. Be vocal in shaping policies that address the concerns of educators and ensure that AI is used in a way that benefits students and supports the teaching profession.
  • Example: A teacher’s union representative participates in a state-level education committee meeting, advocating for policies that promote responsible AI use in schools while ensuring job security for educators.

Looking to the Future: A Balanced Approach

As community colleges continue to integrate new technologies, finding the right balance between technological tools and human instruction will be crucial. The legislative efforts in California and other states suggest a trend towards ensuring that human teachers remain central to the educational process, with AI serving as a supportive tool rather than a replacement. 

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift towards online and hybrid learning models in community colleges. That is also likely increasing the use of AI technologies to support students in virtual settings. As these trends continue, community colleges will need to adapt their policies and practices to ensure that human instructors remain at the forefront of education while leveraging AI to enhance learning experiences. 

Furthermore, addressing ethical concerns surrounding AI in education will be paramount. Issues such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the potential for AI to exacerbate existing educational inequities must be carefully considered and addressed through policy and practice.

Conclusion

The narrative of AI’s role in community college education is still unfolding. While AI technologies offer significant potential to enhance education, current legislative efforts, educator perspectives, and research findings all points towards a future where human teachers remain irreplaceable. 

As community colleges continue to evolve and integrate new technologies, maintaining a balance between technological innovation and human-centered education will be crucial for ensuring high-quality, equitable learning experiences for all students.

The path forward will require ongoing collaboration between educators, policymakers, and technologists to harness the benefits of AI while preserving the essential human elements of teaching and learning. The goal is to create an educational environment that leverages the best of both human expertise and technological advancement, ensuring that the future of community college education is both innovative and deeply human. By doing so, community colleges can position themselves at the forefront of educational innovation while upholding the fundamental values of human-centered education. As we navigate this complex landscape, the goal remains clear – to create an educational environment that leverages the best of both human expertise and technological advancement, ensuring that the future of community college education is both innovative and deeply human.  AB 2370 may be the first step.

David E. Balch PhD, is a professor at Rio Hondo College and has published articles in the areas of ethics, humor, distance education, and AI.

References

AI programs used in preparation of this article were ChatGPT (https://chat.openai.com/), Copilot (https://copilot.microsoft.com/), and Meta AI (https://www.meta.ai/)

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