[background conversation] [teacher teaching] Jen Roberts, an English teacher at Point Loma High School in San Diego, went to a training session on using Writable, an AI tool that automates grading writing assignments and gives students feedback, powered by OpenAI.

Since then, Roberts has been using these tools in her classroom, and she said it has made her students better writers.

Roberts is among several teachers using AI tools to help them grade papers faster, get students more feedback, and improve their learning experience.

California school districts have been signing more contracts for AI tools, from automated grading in San Diego to chatbots in Central California, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

LA Unified School District, for example, signed a $6.2 million contract to launch a chatbot named 'ED.'

California is one of a handful of states to issue guidance for how educators should use the technology.

It encourages critical analysis of AI-generated text and imagery, and student-teacher conversations about how to appropriately use AI, but there's no specific mention of how teachers should treat assignment-grading AI.

The California Education Code also says that state guidance is, "Merely exemplary and that compliance with the guidelines is not mandatory."

Meanwhile, Senate Bill 1288 seeks to form an AI working group to further guide school districts on safe AI use by 2026.

California Department of Education's Katherine Goyette said teachers should discuss what the ethical use of AI looks like in their classroom, and convey that, like using a calculator in math class, using AI is accepted or encouraged for some assignments and not others.

For CalMatters, I'm Khari Johnson.