WA teachers can use artificial intelligence for end-of-year school reports despite blanket bans on the practice in other states. The teachers’ union is calling for the Education Department deliver a clearer policy than simply leaving the decision up to individual schools and teachers. In June, the Victorian Government banned using AI in writing school reports. “As it currently stands, the Department’s guideline puts the onus on individual teachers to make ethical decisions about their use of AI,” State School Teachers’ Union of WA president Matt Jarman told The Sunday Times. “The SSTUWA has requested that the Department of Education develop a more detailed policy which lays out clear rules for teachers on the use of AI in West Australian public schools.” Just weeks after the Victorian guidance was issued, the Australian and WA Governments committed to ploughing a combined $4.4 million into a pilot program to allow teachers at eight WA schools to use AI to reduce their workload. The WA non-governmental sector pledged another $300,000. The pilot program — in four public schools, two Catholic schools, and two independent schools — was announced by the Government, giving lesson planning as an example of where AI might be helpful, but reports were not highlighted as a potential use. Asked about his thoughts about using AI to prepare school reports, Education Minister Tony Buti said teachers were expected to “know their students, the progress they have made, and where they may need more support”. “While artificial intelligence can be used to support teachers, it does not replace quality teaching,” he said. “Reports are one mechanism for teachers to reflect on each child’s academic achievement and progress, as well as attitude, behaviour, and effort, and it is important these are completed with a personal touch and with a student’s privacy in front of mind. “AI will never replace the role of teachers, but it can help cut down the time they spend doing preparation and admin, which means they can spend more time teaching.” He insisted the State’s AI pilot, customising tools for the WA curriculum, was being conducted in a “safe and secure environment”. Many schools already rely on “comment banks” for report writing, with some teachers claiming that AI use is no different. Some may see this as a demonstration of the demand for AI report writing among educators, and a raft of services dedicated to writing academic assessments can be found online, including one on the popular teacher site Twinkl. Independent Education Union Federal Secretary Brad Hayes said it was now an “accepted reality in education that GenAI was only going to grow in influence”, and its use to tackle teacher workload was one area that warranted investigation. However, he also acknowledged that using Generative AI to help with school reports was “still somewhat of a contested issue”. “Some schools have directed staff not to use open-source AI for reports, in part due to privacy concerns that confidential student performance material will be held by a GenAI server somewhere overseas,” Mr Hayes said. “However, we expect more schools to develop their own customised GenAI or incorporate the functionality within their existing systems. This helps protect the data in-house with a program specifically tailored to their school’s context.” A spokesperson for Catholic Education WA said they were “always looking at how we continue to offer the best quality education to our students and how we can ensure teachers spend more time in the classroom”. “The use of AI in schools . . . is not a substitute for core components of assessment and feedback,” they said. “Teachers work carefully to ensure reports accurately reflect student progress and achievement as outlined by SCSA requirements.” A Statewide ban on using artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT was lifted for teachers in WA public schools in May last year, while students are still banned from the site. The lifting of the ban was quickly followed in November by the introduction of the Australian Framework for Generative AI in Schools. The framework doesn’t specifically prescribe what AI should and shouldn’t be used for within the classroom but rather consists of six “principles” and 25 “guiding statements”. Mr Jarman said the SSTUWA would “suggest that a Department policy regarding the use of AI in schools should be in line with state and national frameworks, including the Australian Framework for Generative Artificial Intelligence in Schools”.