TOKYO: The Japanese education ministry’s guidelines on the use of generative artificial intelligence in elementary, junior high and high schools will call for limited use of such AI tools for the time being, it was learned Tuesday.

The ministry plans to release the guidelines in July.

According to a draft, the guidelines will note that it is important to consciously develop the ability to utilize AI tools, while pointing out risks such as the spread of misinformation and the leakage of personal information.

The guidelines will emphasize that it is appropriate to begin with limited use, adding that such tools should first be adopted on a pilot basis in schools that can take sufficient measures.

Examples of inappropriate use of generative AI tools will be listed, such as using the tools for periodic tests, submitting essays entirely generated by the tools, letting students use the tools from the beginning when writing poems, allowing students to use the tools for research on certain topics before using textbooks, and using only the tools to assess student learning.

The guidelines will underline age restrictions included in generative AI tools’ terms of use and call for teachers to be especially cautious about using AI for elementary school education.

As examples of appropriate use, the guidelines will mention using AI tools for English conversation practice, using incorrect responses generated by AI to teach students about the features and limitations of the tools, and letting students use the tools for high-level programming.

Teachers will be urged to avoid entering personal information and to change account settings to prevent entered prompts from being used for machine learning by AI tools.

JIJI Press