‘My No. 1 thought is one of concern’: Omaha tech consulting CEO voices concerns on AI in classrooms

Several school districts plan to incorporate AI into their curriculum this year, and an Omaha parent is speaking out with concerns.

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‘My No. 1 thought is one of concern’: Omaha parent, tech consulting CEO voices concerns on AI in classrooms

OMAHA, Neb. —

An Omaha parent is speaking out with his concerns regarding AI use in the classroom.

RELATED COVERAGE: Nebraska Department of Education speaks on AI policies

Nathan Miller works with AI often in his career as CEO of a tech consulting company. He’s also a parent of a Westside middle schooler.

“My number one thought (of AI in school) is one of concern,” Miller said.

Westside, along with several other districts such as Millard and Lincoln Public Schools, is using AI in certain curricula, and that worries Miller.

“I’ve observed among adults, among professional adults, a number of trends. One is in the space of cognitive offloading. Also a mental health concern,” Miller said.

Miller sent an open letter of his concerns to the district, citing several sources, including a Harvard Business Review explaining “AI Brain Fry,” the idea that the mental fatigue included with AI use can create disengagement.

Miller said the Westside District quickly responded, and they had an in-person meeting.

“I felt it was a good start to a conversation,” Miller said.

Keeping a conversation going is what Miller feels is key.

“As a parent, I’m looking at all of these things that I’m seeing in my professional work that’s impacting adults. If it’s impacting adults, you can be sure that it’s going to impact younger kids,” Miller said.

Miller agrees that avoiding AI altogether isn’t the solution. He feels it should instead be introduced through a media literacy lens.

“Helping a kid understand what the tool is, what these platforms are, how they work, where they might be helpful, but also where they might be dangerous or unhelpful or unhealthy,” Miller said.

Miller said he encourages other parents to start conversations with their district and community, and to make sure they have a good understanding of AI themselves.

Several school districts plan to incorporate AI this school year. In its response to this story, Westside School District said the following:

“Westside Community Schools does not require any students or staff to use Artificial intelligence.

However, AI is quickly becoming part of many students and school staff’s everyday life, showing up in search engines, chatbots, and the apps they already use. AI can be a genuinely useful tool: it can explain a tricky math concept, brainstorm ideas for a project, or help a student get unstuck when they’re staring at a blank page. AI should not be a replacement for personalized thinking.

Our goal is to help interested students and staff use AI ethically and efficiently. That means talking about when it’s appropriate to use (checking their work versus writing the whole assignment), reminding them that AI can sound confident while being wrong, and encouraging them to treat it as a starting point they still question and build on. The most powerful thing you can do is stay curious and keep the conversation open: ask what tools they’re using, try them out together, and help them build the judgment to use AI as a support for their own learning rather than a shortcut around it.

To assist our students and teachers, we’ve put tools in place to help student focus. Only recommended, educational focused tools are allowed on student devices. Non-approved tools like ChatGPT, Grok and Perplexity are now blocked on student devices K-12.

You can read more about AI at Westside on our district’s AI website: https://teachers.technology/ai-at-westside/”