We have to be creative when using AI - special school teacher

Teachers at a special school have harnessed the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to help their pupils find a voice.

Fourteen-year-old Keelan from Tor Bank School in County Down, for instance, uses AI to write his own songs.

Tor Bank's ICT teacher Danielle Perry told BBC News NI that "our children learn in a very, very different way".

"Although our kids don't have voices sometimes, it's making their creations come alive," she said.

"When it comes to AI we have to be creative in how we use it."

AI allows computers to learn and solve problems in ways that can seem human, though computers cannot think, empathise or reason.

However, there have though, been concerns from musicians about the impact of AI on their work.

Generative AI programs mine, or learn, from vast amounts of data like text, images, or music online to generate new content which feels like it has been made by a human.

Some universities have also found a rise in students using AI tools, such as Chat GPT, to cheat in exams and assessments.

But at Tor Bank, Keelan uses AI to create his own music. He is a keen drummer and likes to write songs.

"I like playing the drums because it helps my mind," he said.

He added that working with AI had helped him to be creative.

"It just makes all my favourite things into a song, I do like typing and then I like playing on the drums, drums are really good," he said.

Keelan's teacher Sinéad Oakes said AI had prompted his creativity, not replaced it.

"We've used AI in a way that he is able to write his own music," she said.

"And then he plays the drums and sings along to that.

"It's so creative and then in terms of how it has helped his emotional regulation throughout his school day, it has been phenomenal."

Ms Oakes also said that using technology and AI was "a fab tool to use across the board with all of our young people".

But, she said she had to "retrain" her mind to ensure AI was used for the benefit of her pupils.

"I had to kind of learn how to use it myself before I teach our young people how to use it as well," she continued.

She said that having a plan and a rationale, and a clear idea of how AI could help pupils was key.

Danielle Perry said that while Keelan is using AI to create music, other pupils were using it to research and create presentations.

The pupils use an AI application called Microsoft Copilot in class.

"They're using it for topic research, they're using it to create colouring in pictures of designs that they have used," Ms Perry said.

But she said that "really planning what we're doing, giving the children specific goals" was vital.

"The children, all are the architects of their own learning - they're doing the learning first and then we're supporting them," Ms Perry said.

"Each of our children learn so differently and they're all individuals.

"I think, like anything, when new ideas come out we always have to look at 'is this suitable for the children that we teach?'

"And sometimes it's not.

"We have to think 'how can this best suit the children that we work with?'"

Ms Perry said that for the children "it's not about computers taking over, it's very much about giving the children their creative role in that".

"For us in a special school, it's still very human-led."

For Sinéad Oakes, it is still "early days" for AI in the school.

"It's something that we'll try and progress with as the years go on for sure," she said.