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Visitor urges pause to AI pilot, warns of cognitive and privacy risks
Summary
A visitor, identified as Dana Odette, told the board to pause an AI pilot for juniors and seniors, citing studies she said link frequent AI use to weaker critical thinking and raising long‑term privacy concerns; the board did not act on the request at the meeting.
Dana Odette, a visitor recognized during the meeting, urged the Hudsonville Public School District Board to pause the district's AI pilot for upper grades until independent long‑term research and clear board policies are in place.
"Tonight, I urge you, please pause the AI pilot for juniors and sweet seniors until further data is available and the board can adopt acceptable policies that protect students, staff, and respect parental rights," Odette said, arguing that the prefrontal cortex is still developing and that frequent AI use can encourage cognitive offloading.
Odette cited academic studies she described as finding a negative correlation between frequent AI use and critical thinking, and warned that student work and reflections fed into commercial models may be collected and retained: "The data is still collected, stored, and retained, sometimes for years. 1 breach, 1 policy change or future sale. And we have created a permanent digital dossier on our kids' thoughts, writing styles and private topics that can be exploited for life."
She urged the board to adopt policies that would keep AI out of graded academic work for now, provide parents with advance notice and opt‑out options, require transparent disclosure when AI is used, and restrict AI use for training staff materials until more evidence is available.
The board did not take formal action on the AI pilot during the meeting; the next items of business moved to the consent agenda and regular action items. No district staff response is recorded in the transcript excerpt.
