Artificial intelligence is everywhere, so much so that it’s easy to forget how deeply it’s woven into our daily routines. 

AI is built into the latest phones and so is quietly shaping our experiences without us even thinking about it, helping us find information and edit pictures or text. As it becomes more pervasive, it also brings new complexities. Deep fakes and synthetic media make it sometimes difficult to determine what is actually real. 

Governments around the world, including in the UK, are grappling with this issue. They have determined AI to be a tool for good as well as a threat. Earlier this year, the UK’s AI Opportunities Plan was published, outlining the government’s plan to build AI capacity to become a foundation for economic growth. It identified that AI could be used to complete repetitive tasks, draft reports and forms, identify threats and criminal activity and support assessment and diagnosis. For example, the NHS has been trialling AI to detect illnesses from x-rays quicker than ever before. 

KPMG’s recent publication on how AI is reshaping the workforce predicts that every industry will be affected by AI. It acknowledges that the workforce will need to upskill in AI and digital literacy in order to keep up with these changes. Jobs won’t be lost to AI – they will be lost by those who don’t know how to use AI to those who do. 

At Milton Keynes College, we have developed an AI Literacy framework and programme for staff and students. It is based around four pillars: 

1. Understanding how AI works 

2. Learning how to use AI to generate content 

3. Using AI ethically and responsibly 

4. Checking and evaluating whether AI is correct 

So how does AI work? 

Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, works by scanning the internet, books and other sources for information to answer questions or to create content. It uses a predictive model to guess what word comes next in a sentence. This means that if you ask an AI tool the same question twice, it may bring back a completely different answer. 

At Milton Keynes College, we use Microsoft Copilot and our in-house developed agents, such as a revision helper. These are used with guardrails – safeguards that are put in place to stop the systems from generating inappropriate or dangerous content.  

Microsoft Copilot is an AI helper, which allows students to ask questions and create images and presentations through written prompts. Microsoft Copilot keeps all data within Milton Keynes College IT systems and doesn’t allow it to be used for training AI models. It also deletes all data frequently. 

Ethical use 

Students use AI to write, create presentations and infographics, and to design images and videos. They can also use AI as a revision tool and as a personal coach to ask for career advice and study help. 

While we are seeing students being creative in their AI use, they need to understand how they can do this responsibly. We have introduced guidance around using AI for assignments, with teachers being clear around when and where AI can be used. The bottom line is that if any assignment is not your own work – whether written by AI or copied from someone or somewhere – this is treated as academic misconduct. 

The College has also recently introduced an AI Ethics course in collaboration with KPMG, which teaches students to look at the ethics around all aspects of AI. 

Evaluating AI 

The College fosters critical thinking skills in our students and helps them learn how to identify what is real and what is “fake” in the media and to question the sources and motives behind the information they encounter. 

As AI becomes ever more prevalent, often operating invisibly in the background, the challenge for educators, parents and society is clear: we must equip students not only to use AI, but also to understand and critique it.