Florida is moving to regulate how artificial intelligence is used across its public education system, putting the state on track to establish AI policies spanning classrooms from prekindergarten through the university level.
The effort took a significant step this week when the Florida Department of Education proposed a rule requiring all 28 institutions in the Florida College System to adopt policies governing the use and limits of artificial intelligence by students, faculty, staff and campus guests. The State Board of Education is scheduled to consider the proposal Sept. 16 at Polk State College in Winter Haven.
At the same time, Florida's State University System is developing its own AI requirements for the state's 12 public universities. The Florida Board of Governors is expected to consider language next week directing universities to require course syllabi to disclose faculty use of AI and permitted student use. The Board of Governors created a Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity earlier this year to address the technology's growing role across higher education.
Taken together, the proposals would make Florida one of the most aggressive states in the country in moving AI governance from individual campus policies into statewide higher education policy.
The college-system rule would require each institution's governing board to establish policies addressing when AI may be used and when its use is prohibited, with specific attention to academic integrity and dishonesty, course assignments and grading. The proposed framework also calls for institutions to protect student privacy and information and to help students understand how AI is incorporated into their education.
For graded assignments and assessments, Florida's higher education system has already told the U.S. Department of Education that its policies must prohibit students from using AI unless an instructor explicitly permits it. That position was included in an Aug. 18 joint response from the state's higher education governing bodies to a federal “Call to Action” on artificial intelligence.
