The rising use of artificial intelligence (AI) in K-12 schools has brought both opportunities and serious challenges. While AI can assist schools in improving educational outcomes and streamlining administrative tasks, it also introduces a host of potential problems. These include cases where AI might unfairly target and discipline students or infringe on their legal rights. Students and parents alike may find themselves in situations where these automated systems misinterpret actions, unfairly flag behaviors, or misapply school policies. These issues can have lasting consequences on a child’s record and future.
If your child has been unfairly accused of an inappropriate use of AI or if the school’s use of AI has wrongly impacted your child, you need to act quickly to ensure your child’s rights are protected. At the LLF National Law Firm, we understand how overwhelming it can be for families to face situations where technology feels stacked against them. Our Education Law Team has nationwide experience in helping parents and students resolve disputes with schools, including situations where AI technologies are involved. We will work on your child’s behalf to navigate toward a favorable resolution, one that protects their academic future. To discuss your case, call the LLF National Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a consultation.
The use of artificial intelligence in schools can open up a Pandora’s box of issues between the school and the student. While these issues can take many forms, we can classify them broadly in two categories–student misuse of AI and school misuse of AI.
Student Misuse of AI: Misconduct Allegations
AI tools have transformed how students learn and engage, but they’ve also opened the door to whole new areas of misconduct–which, in turn, may also lead to unfair accusations by the school, leading to serious disciplinary actions. Some key ways students might misuse AI include:
- Cheating and Academic Dishonesty: Students may use AI-powered tools like essay generators or problem-solving apps to complete assignments unfairly. This can result in accusations of plagiarism, leading to failing grades, suspension, or expulsion.
- Cyberbullying with AI: SomeAI tools can create harmful content, such as edited images or fake messages, intended to target, humiliate, and bully another student. These actions can cause emotional harm and trigger severe school punishments.
- Impersonation and Privacy Violations: AI technologies like deepfake software may enable students to create false communications or content impersonating peers. This can lead to privacy breaches and disciplinary hearings.
- Tampering with School Systems: Tech-savvy students may exploit AI to manipulate grades, attendance records, or software systems.
- Creation of Objectionable Content: AI can easily generate inappropriate or offensive material that violates school policies. Sharing such content with other students could result in suspensions or other disciplinary measures.
School Misuse of AI: Breaching Student Privacy and Rights
Schools increasingly rely on artificial intelligence to manage and monitor students, but these tools often raise serious concerns about privacy, fairness, and student rights. Misuse or overuse of AI technology can produce unintended consequences such as disproportionately targeting certain students, reinforcing bias against students, or otherwise infringing on their rights. Below are key areas where schools’ use of AI may pose significant challenges:
- Overreliance on AI Essay Graders: Automated essay grading systems are often unable to recognize creativity or cultural nuance, penalizing students who deviate from rigid writing norms. This may disproportionately affect non-native English speakers and students with learning disabilities, creating inequities in academic assessments.
- Bias in AI-Powered Proctoring Software: AI-driven proctoring software monitors a student’s movements, gaze, or facial expressions during online exams, often flagging students unfairly for “suspicious” behavior. These systems can misinterpret neurodivergent behaviors or normal distractions in non-traditional testing environments, leading to unjust disciplinary actions.
- Facial Recognition and Surveillance: Constant AI surveillance using cameras or badge tracking can erode trust and create a culture of fear. Facial recognition software is particularly problematic, as it can misidentify individuals, leading to wrongful accusations or disproportionate disciplinary actions.
- AI Monitoring of Online Activity: Schools often use AI to flag inappropriate language or activity on school devices. Unfortunately, these systems may also misinterpret benign messages, creative writing, or harmless web searches as threats, unnecessarily placing students under unfair scrutiny.
- Detection of Devices in Exams: AI tools designed to detect cell phones or smartwatches during tests sometimes flag students incorrectly, including those using medical devices or who are following accommodations for disabilities.
- Predictive Discipline and Behavior Scoring: Predictive AI tools may use past behavior, attendance, or demographic data to label students as “at risk” for misconduct. Such predictions can unfairly target students and influence how they are treated, creating cycles of discrimination.
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Engagement Tracking During Online Learning
AI tools that monitor student engagement often penalize students with unreliable internet, family distractions, or learning styles misaligned with algorithm expectations. These tools fail to account for diverse circumstances faced by students.
How K-12 Students Can Be Wrongly Impacted by AI Issues
Whether the misuse of AI tools (or alleged misuse) occurs with the student or the school, there is a strong potential that students can be unfairly impacted by the fallout, especially without an education law attorney to help protect their rights. Some of these negative impacts may include:
- Unfair Disciplinary Actions: With AI systems being used to monitor student behavior, it is possible for students to be unfairly targeted and disciplined. This can lead to a tarnished reputation, lower grades, and even disciplinary actions that may affect their chances of getting into college or obtaining certain jobs in the future.
- Ethnic and Racial Bias: Many AI tools are trained on data sets that are not diverse enough, leading to biased results that discriminate against certain races or ethnicities. This means that students from marginalized communities may be disproportionately affected by these biases, further perpetuating systemic discrimination within education systems.
- ADA Violations: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires schools to provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. However, AI tools may not be designed or tested to meet these standards, leading to potential ADA violations. This can greatly impact students with disabilities, hindering their learning and potentially limiting their opportunities.
- Privacy Concerns: AI tools often collect large amounts of personal data from students, such as biometric information or browsing history. This raises concerns about privacy and security, especially since young people may not fully understand the implications of sharing this information.
Your Child’s Advocate with School AI Issues
The use of AI in schools is a relatively new and evolving area, and it’s not uncommon for schools to misuse or misinterpret these technologies, sometimes to the detriment of their students. If your K-12 student has been unfairly targeted or faces inordinate disciplinary actions due to AI-related issues, you have the right to retain legal counsel to assist in resolving these concerns. However, many local attorneys lack the knowledge of education law that is needed to make a positive difference.
The LLF National Law Firm’s Education Law Team has nationwide experience helping K-12 students and their parents navigate these complicated issues while protecting the student’s rights. We stay up to date not only on education laws in your state, but also the impacts of the latest technologies on students’ rights. We have both the knowledge and experience needed to give your child the best hope of a favorable outcome. To schedule a consultation, call 888-535-3686 or complete our online contact form.