Modesto City Schools has launched a 20-member committee focused on how artificial intelligence should be used in classrooms.

The group includes teachers, staff, union representatives, parents, students and higher education partners. It first convened last school year and is now entering its second year.

"We looked at AI tools, how they can benefit the teachers, the students, staff in our district," said Matthew Ketchum, the district's director of educational technology. "One thing we wanted to be very careful of was bringing in our educational partners. What are these guidelines? What are some policies for safely and responsibly using AI in our district?"

Ketchum said the committee's first mission was to create guidelines. This year, the focus is on standardizing which tools will be approved for use and how teachers and students will access them.

"We feel these are tools that can benefit students in a Socratic way, supporting them in their learning," Ketchum said. "But we also wanted to be mindful that we're not just using 100 percent of what they output. We're using our professional judgment, fact-checking, and looking for bias."

The committee will continue meeting monthly to update policies as new state and federal guidance is developed.