National teachers union and Microsoft announce AI plan to protect student privacy

The American Federation of Teachers and Microsoft in September reached an agreement to adopt privacy standards for the use of artificial intelligence in schools.

Billed as a first-of-its-kind agreement by the AFT, the country’s second-largest teachers union, the new set of standards are aimed at protecting personal information amid students’ growing use of artificial intelligence such as chatbots.

The agreement includes 10 legally enforceable guardrails and stipulates that Microsoft will not use student or teacher data to train AI models, unless the data is needed to protect students. It also stipulates that Microsoft cannot sell the data or use it for advertising or product development.

“We have forged a hard-fought, iron-clad privacy agreement with real teeth that protects students and families, because no one else, including the federal government, has stepped up to do the real work,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a Sept. 9 press release….