The term artificial intelligence (AI) draws mixed reactions. Thanks to decades of science fiction films, television shows and books, many people hear the term AI and immediately begin to picture a bleak dystopia where robots have taken over the world, accompanied by the worry that Arnold Schwarzenegger won't be able to save the day. Charlie Reisinger, chief information officer for Penn Manor School District, shared his perspective on the technological phenomenon to clear up some common misconceptions about AI.

"AI is just another chapter in humanity's quest to create machines that mirror other humans," Reisinger said. "There are age-old stories of human beings trying to create life, like the tales of Frankenstein's monster and the Greek myth of Pygmalion. At its core, it's trying to breathe some sort of life into technology, but AI is really just math and computer code, nothing more."

The research of AI has been occurring for decades. The fundamental idea was to create software that could emulate human decision making, but many research efforts were not fruitful enough and were abandoned. Around 10 years ago, a branch of AI exploration called neural network research resurfaced through the efforts of companies like Google. These companies realized this particular technique, roughly modeled after the human brain, could be used for pattern matching. Google made strides with functions like language processing, which gave us Google Translate. Reisinger credits this point in time as the beginning of a new generation of AI.

Now, AI can be found in many applications that we utilize on a daily basis, such as Siri, Google Assistant and GPS. Reisinger said that the increased presence of these complex applications is due to a variety of factors, the decreasing cost of computers with higher processing power and the increase in storage capability being chief among them. "In the '90s, the capability we have today was thought to be impossible," Reisinger said. "It's the confluence of all of these factors that makes AI a hot topic and allows it to make the strides that it has."

Reisinger said that he sees a mountain of potential in AI. In his eyes, it's a tool that can be used to enhance human skill and creativity; the main purpose of AI is to process information that it is given and return a result that is meaningful to the user. Reisinger also noted that it isn't a tool that is going away any time soon, so he believes people need to embrace it and help society to use AI in a meaningful way.

This opinion doesn't mean that Reisinger doesn't have any concerns about AI technology. He notes that the most worrisome effects of using AI are human bias and ways that it will influence teaching and learning. "As humans, we have a terrible time reducing bias in our thinking. Human weaknesses can find their way into the code of these tools, and we need to build them in a way that they don't mirror the worst parts of humanity," Reisinger said. As chief information officer for Penn Manor School District, Reisinger also seeks to impress upon students and teachers that just because an AI algorithm provides you with an answer, it's the user's responsibility to fact check sources and to be discerning.

"Now is a time more than ever to rely on strong educational systems. It's a new literacy," Reisinger said. "The role of the teacher is dramatically more important now to help students navigate this new informational world."