CCPS officials warn that AI usage could create safety concern for students

As the usage of generative Artificial Intelligence becomes more prevalent in every day life and we live in the information overload age, that does mean folks need to be wary when viewing AI information on the internet.

The Christian County Public School system in particular is putting out this warning, after a flurry of AI-generated images and information have been circulating online locally. Those images contained information regarding damage to the gym floor at the new Christian County High School, scattered information regarding the CCPS Strategic Plan and construction budgeting.

But perhaps the most concerning was an AI flier that detailed an event happening at the high school that contained dates and times—but that event wasn’t real, and was never planned to happen. An anonymous poster on social media used an existing flier from CCHS to advertise this fake event, and Superintendent Chris Bentzel said in a news conference Thursday, that alarmed them. That flier, or similar ones that could be made in the future, represents a safety risk to their students, as it could have brought people to the campus with no security in place.

Director of School Safety Clayton Sumner says there’s still plenty of folks that don’t really understand what generative AI is and how it can be used, either for good or ill. He says they’ve had to educate students on the dangers of AI usage and how it can quickly become a crime or harmful, and now it’s time for the adults in this community to learn the same.

The fake flier detailing the event was based off of an actual flier that was posted by CCHS concerning a teacher hiring event, but because AI was used in the creation of that flier, it made it easy to replicate. WHOP questioned how people were supposed to determine fake from real if both looked so similar, and Communications Director Johnna Brown says this has been a learning experience.

She says discussions are already happening internally that they feel AI should only be a tool, not the final product, and they’ll be more discerning going forward.

Brown says they’ve asked their students to be responsible with AI and how they use it, and they’re just asking for adults to do the same and set a good example.

As for the images depicting damage to the gym floor, Assistant Superintendent Kevin Crider says the floor did sustain some minor damage while the digital scoreboard was being installed, but it was never as bad as what depicted in an AI image, and the floor remains very much playable and most people will never even see it.

Images and a post detailing information from the CCPS Strategic Learning plan was also posted, with district officials disputing what it contained. You can view the strategic learning plan that was presented to the School Board at Thursday’s meeting here.

Their biggest advice to the community was to make sure you’re getting your news information from reliable, legitimate sources, such as local media, and double check who is posting the information before believing it.