Ten students have been suspended at a high school in Lévis, Que., after images of teachers and school staff altered by artificial intelligence were published on social media.
In a statement, the school service centre, the Centre de services scolaire des Navigateurs (CSSDN), said the students at Horizon high school were suspended for violating the schoolâs code of conduct, which prohibits posting any “offensive, defamatory, hateful, or violent content or images.”
It also forbids recording or broadcasting individuals without consent.
André Bernier, president of the Association québécoise du personnel de direction des écoles, a provincial group representing school administrators, told Radio-Canada most of the images in this case could be described as silly or nonsense.
But Bernier said he was told by the school that one of the fake images posted on Snapchat reportedly showed a gun being held to the head of a teacher.
“Using photos without authorization is simply not tolerable â you never know where things might lead â so the school chose to intervene quickly in this matter,” Bernier said.
The local school service centre the Centre de services scolaire des Navigateurs said in a statement it was other students who first alerted staff to the AI-doctored photos. (Radio-Canada Philippe Kirouac)
The CSSDN said it was other students who first reported the images to school staff because they felt uncomfortable.
Administrators and the school’s police officer met with the students who posted the images and asked them to delete them, which they agreed to do.
The students were suspended for three days, but no criminal charges were laid.
Richard Bergevin, president of the province’s federation of teachers’ unions, the Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement (FSE-CSQ), said itâs important that schools take these situations seriously.
“When these photos and videos appear on the internet, they can have a very wide distribution,” Bergevin said.
“Unfortunately, they can unfairly damage the reputation of a teacher,” he said.
He said before Quebec instituted a ban on cellphones in schools, there were some incidents of students filming teachers in the classroom.
“They were making short videos to try and make teachers look bad, videos that were shared without any context,” Bergevin said.
“With the ban on cell phones, these phenomena have decreased significantly in recent years, and teachers were less fearful,” he said.
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He said incidents such as this one with AI are more rare, but are presenting a new risk.
“With the power of the tools that artificial intelligence puts in the hands of students, these situations can occur more and more frequently,” he said.
Bergevin said with AI students can easily manipulate existing images and videos of teachers or school staff already posted online.
He said school administrators and school boards should sanction students, but also report such incidents to police when necessary.
André Bernier, president of an association representing school administrators, said students posting any photos of staff without their consent is unacceptable. (Pierre-Alexandre Bolduc/Radio-Canada)
Bernier said school staff also have to be careful about posting even innocuous images of school activities online that could be manipulated.
“There might be some training for staff to put in necessary blocks so people who are not part of their network wonât be able to use photos,” Bernier said.
“It’s always important to pay attention to the parameters, because when you’re not careful, it becomes public and anyone can access it,” he said.Â
Carolanne Campeau is a lecturer and a PhD student at University of Sherbrooke whoâs also an advisor for a group called PAUSE, which provides support and creates awareness campaigns to address hyperconnectivity.
She said AI tools are largely unregulated and easy to access online.
“They are so easily available to kids. The government needs to regulate the platforms,” Campeau said.
Behavioral addiction expert Carolanne Campeau says governments need to do more to regulate AI use for children. (Isaac Olson/CBC)
“I’m kind of flabbergasted that they can’t come up with something that is more safe to use for our teenagers. It doesnât make sense,” she said.
Campeau said technology often moves more quickly than governments and the education system when it comes to drafting laws and regulations.
“Right now, the conversation is all about social media, and not necessarily AI,” she said.
She thinks a moratorium on AI use for children under a certain age would be a good idea.
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“We need to delay the introduction of these AI tools into their lives,” Campeau said.
She believes young children shouldn’t have access to AI tools at all, but that they could potentially be introduced to teenagers, accompanied by a robust digital literacy program in schools.
“We have to do it in a way that explains what the risks are, because the technology is not necessarily going to have those guardrails,” Campeau said.
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“We want them to have this critical thinking skill about what’s possible, but also what is morally reprehensible, and what can actually lead to legal consequences,” she said.
In a statement, new education minister Joël Arseneau said the school was right to suspend the students.
“We must act swiftly and decisively to send the message that there is zero tolerance throughout the school system for manipulations like those that occurred at Horizon high school,” Arseneau said.
He said regulating AI in schools is a priority for the government, and that he was confident they would quickly find a way to prevent these types of situations from recurring.
