Your Students Asked About AI. A CFR Expert Answered.

Artificial intelligence is everywhere right now: in the news, in the classroom, and on the minds of students and teachers alike. The questions are coming fast: Should we fear AI? Who’s regulating it? Where does America need to lead? Will it help or hurt our kids’ futures? The answers aren’t simple, and the anxiety is real. So we asked educators what their students were actually asking, then brought those questions to Kat Duffy, Senior Fellow for Digital and Cyberspace Policy and Director of LEAD AI at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

As one of the leading expert voices at the intersection of AI and policy, Kat brings both the policy expertise and the perspective of a parent to every answer. Here’s what she had to say.

Q: “With so much to take in, where should we even begin? What should we be worried about?”

The bad news is there’s a lot to worry about. The good news is that you’re in good company.
There is no issue in America right now that is polling at greater rates of bipartisan consensus than American citizens’ concerns with AI, particularly when it comes to children’s educations. Voters increasingly care, which means they’re looking to policymakers and elected officials to educate themselves, come up with ideas, and drive solutions. That creates an opening for better research, deeper analysis, and stronger evidence bases to inform debate and help us work through a significant technological transformation.

As a mom with kids who are both in the K-12 span, my greatest concern is not AI; it’s that we’re scaling AI on top of an educational system that has proven itself incapable of incorporating technology effectively into educational settings, and on top of a society where our kids are more likely to roam an online world than their own neighborhood. So the question is not how we use AI; the question is whether we’re satisfied with what our kids are learning, and how they’re learning. And if we’re not, it’s important to understand that AI is not a solution for a broken system, so much as an accelerator for that breakage.

Q: “Do you fear the end of humanity as a result of AI?”

No. (If humanity gets wiped out, I’m pretty sure the historical record will indicate we did it to ourselves. That, or an asteroid, maybe?) I am deeply concerned, though, about the consolidation of economic, political, and technological power into the hands of a small group of individuals and companies, and how little the public’s interest will be reflected in the way that power is wielded. And I worry about how quickly AI tools can be harnessed by bad actors such as transnational crime rings, armed militia groups, and malicious hackers to speed up and scale their activity. I also worry about how hard it has become to separate fact from fiction.

So I guess to phrase things a different way, I’m way less worried about the survival of the species than I am about how quickly humans will use AI in ways that impact other humans, and how unclear we all are on what that may look like.

Q: “That feels like a lot. Are there ways to course-correct? Are there solutions floating around?”

Absolutely. First, it’s clear that Americans are clamoring for some sort of governance of AI. It’s also clear that as of this moment, at least, the federal government hasn’t taken that on. But one of the most interesting things about America is our federated structure. In most countries, the national government is in charge of the educational system, national elections, health care, law enforcement, etc. But in America, state governments own that responsibly, which means that for most Americans, the incorporation of AI into the systems that touch your daily lives, be it the applications on your laptop in your public school classroom, the way insurers are using AI to make decisions about your health care, or the use of facial recognition technologies by local police, will depend on decisions being made at the state and local level.

Meanwhile, we have generations of young people with interesting, informed opinions about how we should be incorporating technology into our society and the technological savvy to come up with novel solutions. I think this is the most exciting opportunity for civic engagement, youth organizing, and youth leadership that I’ve seen in my lifetime, and state and local governments are a great entry point for achieving impactful, innovative change, be it through political organizing, or deepening elected officials’ understanding of the tech.

So what does that give us? An incredible opening, especially for educators. Students are galvanized, governments are trying to figure out solutions, and the issues are interesting, personal, and play to young people’s strengths, because the solutions will require energy, creativity, and imagination. For years, we’ve seen declining civic participation in the United States, increased distrust in our institutions, and a growing sense of isolation within families and communities. The rise of AI can create new space to rebuild and restore one of the most fundamental gifts of being in America - that you have a right to your opinion, a right to your voice, and a right to fight for the change you want to see. My greatest hope is that we come out of this moment having proven to our students and young adults that they have a right and a responsibility to shape their futures by leaning into our democracy.

Q: “Speaking of America, we hear a lot about how America needs to beat China and win the AI race. How should students be thinking about China in the context of AI?”

This is a big question, so I’m going to focus on a few points that may help students contextualize this debate.

First, ask around and find out if anyone is aligned on exactly what race we’re running and where the finish line is. Spoiler alert: there’s no consensus on that point.

Second, a defining feature of greatness is a relentless focus on self-improvement, on looking inwards and always striving to get better. I don’t think any nation in the world can outcompete the United States of America when we are leaning into our strengths. What troubles me at the moment isn’t that China is outcompeting us; it’s that we’re losing to ourselves. There are certainly areas where China operates as an adversary of the United States, and as of democracy as a whole. But the realistic lens when it comes to AI is that we’re set to outcompete China in some areas, and China is set to outcompete us in others, and no one country will be the uncontested victor.

Third - and this really matters - it is imperative for America to show up as a global leader in AI, because it’s important that fundamental democratic values like due process, accountability, and fairness are reflected in the AI systems that roll out across the world. Technology developed in authoritarian environments isn’t generally designed to reflect such values, and without them, AI will make it easier for governments to control citizens, rather than for citizens to control their governments.

So I hope students don’t ask, “Who are we trying to beat, and why?” Instead, I hope they ask, “Where is it critical for the United States to lead, and why?”

I would really, really love to hear their answers!

Q: “Is AI going to mess up our world and lives or will it help us have a better life and a better career?”

Yes. To all the above. It’s going to screw some things up and it’s going to create some really incredible opportunities. We are facing a lot of change. Some things will change quickly, other things will change more slowly. Where things change quickly, we’re likely to see faster and more aggressive solutions get developed. For example, I think we’re going to have a rough time figuring out where AI can be a powerful, beneficial tool for education, and where it’s weakening our ability to learn important skills like critical thinking, effective communication, and the ability to protect cognitive focus. I also think we’ll see focused research in those areas faster than in others.

It’s an all purpose technology. It’s up to us to decide how we want it to be used. Meta glasses illustrate this. As a rights advocate, I think they’re horrible if your priority is protecting people’s privacy, and wonderful if your priority is supporting the blind and visually-impaired. Self-driving cars may end up putting Lyft or Uber drivers out of work; they may also empower millions of people to use transit time more productively, or free up caregivers whose lives revolve around taking a loved one to and from appointments. Lenders may incorporate AI in ways that scale injustice. On the other hand, lenders could use AI to analyze credit risks more intelligently, and improve equitable access to credit. It’s not about the tech - it’s about what we choose to do with it, and how we demand that it produce beneficial results for the public - and not just revenue for the few.

Q: “If a student really wants to be informed on all things AI, what should they be doing? What should they be reading? What should they be listening to? What kind of questions should they be thinking about?”

Do everything you can to learn how the technology works, how the technology is built, what it can do, what it still can’t do, and the incentives that are driving its development and diffusion.

In particular, remember this: “AI ≠ chatbot.” There’s the technology, and then there’s its application. A chatbot is only one application of AI. Think of it like this: Somebody gives you a glass of water. You don’t know where it came from or what’s in it, whether it will refresh you or make you sick. And then that person says, “This is water! Experience it! This is how to understand water.” We’d all be baffled, right? Because water is also oceans, and lakes, and rain, and clouds, and even 50-60% of our own bodies. It has so many forms.

So if you’re holding a chatbot, remember that it’s only one way AI shows up in the world. Just like a glass of water, think carefully about how much you trust it. Don’t assume you’re getting safe, healthy water; make sure you’re clear on where that water came from and why it’s being offered to you. Maybe it makes sense to drink it. Maybe it’s better used to clean the floor. But whatever you decide, remember that it’s just one type of water in a big world of possibility.

Curiosity is the antidote to anxiety. When you’re old and grizzled like me, you’ll understand how great you are at learning new things right now. So go be relentlessly curious. Be careful, but be curious. Go learn everything you can. Form your own opinions, and then educate the adults. Because the grown-ups aren’t exactly swimming in expertise right now, and your future belongs to you.

Kat Duffy is the senior fellow for Digital and Cyberspace Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, and the director of LEAD AI, a CFR program covering artificial intelligence, deployment governance, and foreign policy. Duffy serves on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Geopolitics and on the board of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law. Before joining CFR, she directed the Task Force for a Trustworthy Future Web at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, where she published Scaling Trust on the Web. Her career has spanned work across the the United States, Tunisia, Cuba, Colombia, and South Africa, through positions with the State Department, UNHCR, and multiple non-profits. She holds a BA from Yale and a JD from the University of Michigan, and her career was inspired by an amazing professor and a great class on technology policy when she was 19 years old.

Learn more.