On Aug. 15, the District 211 Board of Education approved a one-year agreement with ChatGPT Enterprise, the company’s business-oriented service, at a cost of $149,760.

On approving ChatGPT Enterprise over other AI companies like Google Gemini or Microsoft Copilot, Superintendent Lisa Small said, “ChatGPT Enterprise offers advanced security measures, including data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and compliance with education-related regulations.”

The district also expects to utilize AI to make teaching more efficient and to provide individualized learning support for students.

Not all board members were in support of this motion, however.

Board of Education secretary Kimberly Cavill, who voted against the motion, said that she was “very suspicious of this kind of technology.”

Cavill was specifically worried about “third-party GPTs” and whether they could compromise students’ data privacy. Her questions weren’t able to be answered at that time.

With the use of AI becoming more and more widespread, discussions on how to prevent the abuse of the technology have become commonplace at Palatine High School.

“Palatine English teachers have been steadily working for well over a year on implementing practices in our instruction and our assignments that will hopefully prevent the abuse of using AI,” English teacher Katie Kupka said. “There are definitely benefits to using AI in a way that can enhance your learning. But unfortunately, so many use it as a way to not learn. And that’s one of the problems.”

Kupka also articulated that she has an issue with her students using AI when they use it instead of tapping into their knowledge, comparing it to “looking up the answers in the back of the mathbook.”

With AI being used in almost every aspect of daily life: from social media to the healthcare industry, D211 believes that it is “imperative” to explore new ways to integrate this technology into the teaching and learning experiences for students.