Cultivating character in the digital age with today’s teens requires that we seriously consider how use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies relate to character development. Currently, educators fear generative AI will lead to cheating, disengagement, and overall character degradation. We need new data and tools in order to respond.
We ask: 1) How are middle and high school students actually interacting with Generative AI technologies, like ChatGPT? 2) What relationships exist between teens’ use of these technologies and key aspects of character, such as their sense of purpose, their connections with others, and their will to maintain academic integrity? 3) What tools will support educators with character development in an age of AI?
Through strategic partnership at Stanford, we will collect thousands of responses from high school students and educators using our updated and well-established survey. We also will conduct focus groups with educators and students. With these analyzed, we will then co-design, test, and broadly disseminate tools and curricular resources for schools to promote ethical and effective AI consistent with and supportive of the development of positive character traits and virtuous use.
