Faculty Experiment with “AI Playground” at Summer Workshop

After the 2024-2025 school year concluded, faculty gathered in June for a 3-day workshop on the usage and integration of artificial intelligence in a classroom setting. The program, led by external strategic advisor Eric Hudson, focused on developing AI literacy among educators. On his website, Hudson describes the process as an “AI playground”, where discussions and “guided activities” are held to help participants “recognize AI’s power and its pitfalls and to understand how their own work and learning will (and will not) change in response to an AI world.”

Dean of Studies Lydia Hemphill found it helpful to “have time to play around with AI and be shown what different AI…resources there are.” She mentioned how teachers tinkered with generative AI by creating worksheets for class and cooking recipes for personal use. When asked about its effects, she said, “People really appreciated the time…to be able to marvel at what AI can do, and also be wary of what it can do.” History and Social Science Department Chair Brian Hamilton mentioned how, even though the workshop was optional, “faculty attendance approached 100%.”

As the Academy continues to address widespread AI use, some faculty members have already introduced AI resources into their courses and classwork. Last year, Science Teacher Aidan Carroll allowed students in his Intro to Computer Science class to use generative AI when completing certain assignments. He implemented a two-part system in which students would submit their project and then take a test about their own code, explaining, “Students could use AI to create a product…they [are] proud of. But anything they turned into me, they were responsible…for looking at every line of code and understanding how it works.”

Mr. Carroll emphasized that this idea stemmed from the consideration of a future world where “AI is going to be around, and it’s not about being scared of it. It’s about knowing how to use it and how not to use it.” Max Ng ’27 reflected on his experience in the class last year, saying, “AI was really beneficial for beginners like myself, especially in computer science, to learn in more personalized ways and help me with projects.”

Science Teacher Ben Bakker also introduced AI into his Honors Physics 2 and Digital Logic classes last year. In his Digital Logic class, he provided an example of using AI to design new circuits, but only after students had developed a firm grasp of fundamental skills. Associate Editor of the Scroll Katherine Ni ’26 shared her experience in Honors Physics 2, saying, “AI helped to compile data and complete tedious calculations…and thorough conversations with it also helped me a lot.” However, she explained that the work could be inaccurate at times, and plenty of revisions needed to be made afterwards.

Mr. Bakker stated that students shouldn’t use the tool as a “lookup engine” and instead “be curious and creative and reflect on [their] own learning and have deep conversations with it.” He called AI a disruptive technology, clarifying, “I think any disruptive technology is good in the sense that it calls you back to your root purpose…[and helps us understand] how we can use this technology to help us do things better.”

Instead of focusing on the finished product, Mr. Bakker urged everyone to consider the learning process and how AI can benefit that: “The world doesn’t need more high school history papers, and the world doesn’t need more solved high school physics problems, but it does need better thinkers who have learned how to learn.” This year, he plans to direct students toward a deeper and more thorough use of AI that assists their learning process. As the department chair of the History and Social Science Department, Mr. Hamilton discussed the use of AI in research-oriented history courses, offering an example of using AI to scan and transcribe 300-year-old manuscripts of Deerfield Pastor John Williams for better recognition. He mentioned that the AI’s recognition was not “error-free… but it was easier to start with than just squiggles on the page.”

Dean of Teaching and Learning and English Teacher Hadley Westman also mentioned that an AI Task Force has been created, composed of faculty from various sectors of school life, and has set up an “AI lab” in the library. She explained that the space offers ten designated laptops with AI-infused tools like Google Gemini and NotebookLM, which teachers can request “if they’ve identified an area where the use of AI might augment a particular lesson or portion of an assessment.”

Despite examples of prior use, the Academy has implemented restrictions against AI use. The newly installed firewall this year prohibits students from accessing AI resources when connected to school Wi-Fi. Mr. Caroll cited how, as a result of the firewall, concerns about equity influenced his decision to “take a step back from using AI this year.” Mr. Hamilton echoed similar ideas, stating that the department will adhere to a “precautionary principle” as they tackle “AI slop” and “hallucinations.”

Even though there is no mandate for widespread AI use, Ms. Hemphill explained how the Academy still encourages teachers to “be imaginative, try different things… elicit curiosity in our students, and not pretend that AI isn’t there.”