Mearns Castle High School appoints what is thought to be UK's first AI literacy teacher

Mearns Castle High School in East Renfrewshire, near Glasgow, has appointed Jamie Laycock as a teacher of artificial intelligence literacy. The school is thought to be the first in the UK to create such a post. Mr Laycock delivered his first lesson at the school, where he encouraged pupils to think about artificial intelligence and to be on their guard both in school and outside it.

The lesson looked at deepfake images and how to spot them. One pupil said AI has come a long way in the past couple of years. They said that a year or two ago they would have said they could tell the difference between real and fake images, but AI has learned that it cannot be too perfect. As a result, the pupil said, 'our eyes are not enough to determine necessarily if something is deep fake.' Mr Laycock asked pupils whether they could tell the difference between AI-generated and human-generated material, and discussed simple signs such as images that look too good to be true, with no freckles or marks on the skin.

Pupils had previously asked for help understanding artificial intelligence. The school said it was not advocating for AI and was not saying that AI is good or bad. Instead, it said learners need to know how to use it appropriately so they can get the best out of it. Staff also pointed to negative aspects and dangers, including biases in the way the technology is trained. Young people need to be aware that they are interacting with a machine, the school said.

The school has been careful not to promote AI. A member of staff said there is a real need to develop AI literacy across the curriculum and that it should increasingly be an entitlement for young people, so they are prepared for the skills they need now and in the future. The staff member said it is important not to repeat the mistakes society made with social media, when young people adopted it without being fully educated on the implications. The aim is for pupils to know what they are working with, how to use AI ethically and critically if they choose to, and also how not to use AI.

Pupils gave their views on the appointment. One said AI is going to be in pretty much every workplace, and learning about it at school would give them an advantage in the workplace. Another said it is important for the whole school to get a head start on AI and how to identify it, not just for safety but for social media, where deepfakes appear all the time. With AI expanding at an exponential rate, other schools and councils will be watching the school's approach with interest.