Florida Is Launching An 'AI-Integrated' Middle School - Here's What That Means

You can't escape artificial intelligence these days, given the prevalence of AI art, writing, code, music, and chatbots on the internet. Instead of fighting against this new reality, some schools have opted to embrace it. This includes a new "AI-integrated" middle school set to open in Florida. The Innovation Academy of Excellence will be a free-to-enroll STEM school with a focus on the ethical use of AI throughout each course. 

Tallahassee State College (TSC) and Charter Schools USA have partnered to bring this small middle school — between 100 and 125 students — to the Sunshine State as a free public charter school. TSC officials hope that students will get more personalized experiences that prepare them for advancement to the Tallahassee Collegiate Academy (TCA) for high school. This charter school has a focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — or STEM. 

As of this writing, it's unclear what the AI-integrated school's curriculum will be. The faculty has also yet to be announced. While this is the first fully AI-integrated middle school in the state, it's far from the first school that has attempted to embrace artificial intelligence due to the inability to avoid it.

There is no shortage of studies out there that show how frequently middle school-aged students are using artificial intelligence. A report from the Center for Digital Thriving has revealed that the younger generations don't shy away from using AI for gathering information, brainstorming, and even completing essays and projects. A recent survey by the Digital Education Council found that 86% of students were using artificial intelligence in their studies in some way. Tyton Partners conducted a study in 2023 that found 27% of students admitted to using AI daily. These students explained that AI is not really a way to cheat.

The most common uses for AI are to gather information and brainstorm ideas, while others use it to create images and write code. The most widely used AI tool at present is ChatGPT, which has continued to shake up the internet since 2023. Students commonly use it to search for information, check grammar, summarize documents they don't want to read, and create first drafts of essays.

Despite AI being so integrated in students' research and writing, many admitted that they were not confident about their AI literacy, with 58% of students in the DEC survey admitting that they felt they lacked sufficient AI skills for the workforce. 

It can be nearly impossible to catch every instance of AI-assisted school work, which has led many schools and colleges to embrace it. However, there is still skepticism over the concepts of plagiarism, inaccurate results, and reduced human interaction. To combat this, some schools are embracing AI to help students better utilize its capabilities in an ethical and effective manner.

The University of Florida has founded the Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Middle School Education (AAIMSE) to better equip teachers with AI knowledge and help them utilize AI in their courses. The California Department of Education has held AI in Education workshops to help shape the way AI is used throughout the state's education system, and the Los Angeles County Office of Education has infused AI into school lectures and operations.

At present, students feel that their college's integration of AI has not been meeting their expectations, according to the DEC's recent survey. They are hoping for more colleges to integrate AI tool training for both professors and students, courses on AI literacy, and more AI-integrated curriculum. Embracing AI is still relatively new to the education system, but innovative implementations, such as the AI-integrated middle school in Florida and student-focused AI tools, will hopefully keep students and faculty at the forefront of AI literacy.