PART TWO OF OUR AI SERIES. READ PART ONE HERE.
Your child may already be using artificial intelligence at school, even if they have never opened ChatGPT in a classroom. AI in education does not always look like a chatbot writing answers. It can be a math program that adjusts the difficulty of problems based on a student’s answers. It can be a reading program that helps match work to a child’s skill level. It can provide feedback on writing, recommend what a student should practice next, or help a teacher create questions from an assigned lesson. According to the California Department of Education, California’s own guidance for schools describes AI tools that include adaptive learning platforms, intelligent tutoring systems, grading assistants, and classroom chatbots. So, for parents, the question is quickly changing from “Will AI be used in schools?” to “How is it being used, and is it helping my child learn?”
AI IS ALREADY BUILT INTO EDUCATION
Some of the technology students have used for years falls under the broad umbrella of artificial intelligence. Programs such as IXL, Freckle, and Carnegie Learning can analyze student performance and adjust instruction or recommend what a student should work on next. This is different from generative AI like ChatGPT, Claude, or Grok. The program is not necessarily creating an essay or having an open-ended conversation. Instead, it uses student data to personalize the learning experience.
Newer curriculum tools are taking things a step further. Curriculum used by Monterey County schools are beginning to add generative AI directly into their platforms. TCI, a social studies and science curriculum, has introduced tools that can help teachers adjust the reading level of the content and generate test questions. Studies Weekly has developed similar AI tools for teachers. Other companies are experimenting with AI-powered tutoring, writing feedback and language practice. That means a student could interact with AI without ever leaving the curriculum platform their school already uses. There is a big difference between an AI tool helping a fifth grader understand a difficult paragraph and that same student asking a chatbot to write the response to the paragraph.
HOW LOCAL DISTRICTS ARE RESPONDING
There is not yet one universal approach to AI in local schools. Pacific Grove Unified, for example, has taken a careful approach. Its board-approved 2026–2029 Educational Technology Plan calls for the ethical and careful integration of AI, with human oversight and privacy protections. The plan, found on the PG Unified website, specifically separates staff, teacher, and student use of AI and lays out a gradual approach to student access.
That approach reflects a larger conversation happening across California. In June, the California Department of Education released a model AI policy that school districts and charter schools can adapt for their own communities. It covers issues including academic integrity, disclosure of AI use, student privacy, educator discretion, and AI literacy. The state is not requiring every district to adopt the policy exactly as written, but it provides a framework schools can use as they create their own rules. Other Monterey County districts are at different stages of that process. Some are developing formal AI policies, while others are addressing AI through classroom rules, technology plans, and curriculum platforms.
HOMEWORK IS WHERE THINGS GET COMPLICATED
For parents, the biggest questions may come after the school day ends. Imagine your child is stuck on a math problem. They could ask an AI tool, “Can you explain how to solve this without giving me the answer?” Or they could type, “What’s the answer?” Technically, both scenarios use AI. Educationally, they did two very different things.
The same is true for writing. A student might ask, “Which part of this paragraph is unclear?” and then revise the work independently. Another student might ask, “Write a five-paragraph essay about this book and make it sound like an eighth grader wrote it.” One student used AI as a tutor; the other used it as a substitute. The easiest way for families to think about AI and schoolwork: Did the AI help your child do the thinking, or did it do the thinking for your child? California’s guidance emphasizes preserving students’ creativity, critical thinking, and authentic voice even as AI becomes more common in schools.
ASSESSMENT MAY CHANGE TOO
The rise of generative AI also creates a challenge for teachers: How do you know what a student actually understands? A perfectly polished essay completed at home may no longer tell the entire story. That could mean greater emphasis on the learning process—in-class writing, drafts, oral explanations, presentations, projects, and asking students to explain how they arrived at an answer. Instead of simply asking, “Did the student produce the correct product?” teachers may increasingly need to ask, “Can the student demonstrate that they understand it?”
Technology has already changed assessment in other ways. CAASPP, California’s statewide testing system, uses computer-adaptive testing where the system responds to student performance as the assessment progresses. AI and automated scoring technology have also been used in portions of statewide assessment scoring. So AI is not simply something appearing outside of school and forcing its way in. Algorithms and automated systems have already been part of educational testing and personalized learning for years. What has changed is that generative AI now gives students direct access to technology capable of producing writing, explanations, images, and answers in seconds—well above their skill level.
THE GOAL ISN’T TO PRETEND AI DOESN’T EXIST
California is increasingly treating AI literacy as something students will need to understand, not simply something schools need to block. Its guidance calls for thoughtful integration while keeping teachers, human relationships, critical thinking, and student safety at the center. That does not mean every use of AI should be allowed. It means families and schools need a better question than “Did you use AI?” Try asking: “How did you use AI, and what did you learn because of it?” That may become one of the most important homework questions parents can ask.
Next month, we’ll wrap up this series by looking at the side of AI that deserves just as much attention as its potential. The final installment will focus on the real risks families should understand, including misinformation, deepfakes, privacy concerns, emotional dependence, and the growing world of AI companionship apps. We’ll also look at practical ways parents can help kids recognize when something feels off, protect their personal information, and use AI without letting it replace trusted people, healthy relationships, or their own judgment.
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