"When Jody Hughes' daughter asked Adobe Express for Education, graphic design software provided by her teacher, to generate an image of "long stockings a red headed girl with braids sticking straight out," it produced nothing resembling the Swedish children's book character she had accurately described. Instead, using recently-added artificial intelligence, it generated sexualized imagery of women in lingerie and bikinis."
"The incident raised questions not only about the LA school district's use of a particular AI product but also about guidelines state administrators provide to schools throughout California on how to safely adopt the technology. A few weeks after the incident, the state Department of Education published a new edition of the guidelines, which it had been working on for several months with help from a group of 50 teachers, administrators, and experts."
"Critics wonder if the guidelines would have helped avoid what parents referred to as Pippigate; the controversy, they say, provides evidence that districts, schools, and parents, who often lack the time or resources to ensure that software tools don't produce harmful output, need more support from the state."
Fourth graders at a Los Angeles elementary school were assigned to create book reports on Pippi Longstocking with AI-generated covers using Adobe Express for Education. When a student requested an image of the character, the software produced sexualized imagery of women in lingerie instead. Parents reproduced the issue on school-issued devices and opposed continued use of the software. The incident highlighted gaps in California's AI adoption guidelines for schools. The state Department of Education subsequently released revised guidelines developed with 50 educators and experts, following 2024 legislative instructions to address AI's rapid expansion in schools. Critics argue the guidelines remain insufficient and too vague to prevent similar incidents.
#ai-safety-in-schools #educational-technology-guidelines #content-moderation #school-district-policy
Read at The Mercury News
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