SPRINGFIELD — State Senator Robert Martwick has advanced legislation that would require students be graded by teachers and not artificial intelligence.
“We are navigating a new frontier of artificial intelligence,” said Martwick (D-Chicago). “It is incumbent on us to ensure that there are guardrails to ensure the people of Illinois have baseline consumer protections and privacy they deserve in a rapidly changing environment. It is essential for us to provide protections to students in educational settings.”
Senate Bill 416 would prohibit teachers from using artificial intelligence to grade a student’s work. It requires that any other use of AI in a classroom setting be approved by the schoolboard.
A number of schools have implemented policies against students using artificial intelligence in their schoolwork for many reasons, including cheating and plagiarism. Ultimately, students are meant to demonstrate their understanding of a topic. For that same reason, teachers are meant to judge whether a student has understood a topic or not when grading.
“This legislation was an initiative of students, who didn’t just come forward with a complaint, but instead did the hard work to create a solution,” said Martwick. “The students organized proponents of the legislation and advocated for its passage and demonstrated that with effort, everyone can affect positive change.”
Senate Bill 416 – which is part of the Senate’s AI protection package – passed the Senate Executive Committee on Wednesday.