Voice AI Concerns to Vancouver School Board
Vancouver School Board
Vancouver School Board (VSB) are planning to collaborate with Microsoft to introduce Generative AI into classrooms (CTV News).
As parents and guardians of children at VSB schools, we do not consent to our children being exposed to generative AI in schools.
As citizens of Vancouver, we are concerned that the long-term impacts of Generative AI on learning and mental health have not been adequately considered by Vancouver School Board.
We agree that children need to understand how new technologies work, but that the use and risks of generative AI can be covered in a few classes, similar to learning how to be safe online.
Our Requests to VSB
- We ask that VSB clarify its plans regarding the use of Generative AI tools in classrooms.
- We ask that VSB require schools to ask parents/guardians for consent before children use Generative AI in the classroom, and allow parents to opt-out.
Negative Impacts of Generative AI
Generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT, Copilot) has only been in major use for a few years, but scientific research on its impacts on learning and mental health is being released.
On Learning
Scientific studies have been made on the effect of GenAI on learning. So far the results are mostly negative:
- Its use is associated with worse learning outcomes (Kosmyna 2025)
- Students that used AI perform worse than those that never used it (Bastani 2024)
- Users of generative AI over-estimate how well they know a subject (Fernandes 2025)
We believe that the push to introduce generative AI in classrooms is being driven by advertising hype from companies like Microsoft, and that the very real negative impacts of the technology are not being considered.
On Mental Health
Just like the negative mental health effects of social media was underestimated at first, the negative effects of Generative AI chatbots is just beginning to be understood.
Generative AI chatbots (ChatGPT, Copilot) have had many negative health outcomes:
- Common Sense Media recommend that children and teens not be allowed to use AI chatbots at all.
- They have told children how to commit suicide.
- They have also talked about sexual topics with children.
- Use of AI chatbots has triggered psychosis in adults and is part of a mental health epidemic.
We do not consent to our children using tools that are associated with so many negative mental health impacts.
More information on the negative impacts of generative AI can be found on https://noai.school/
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Vancouver School Board
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[Your Name]
We are people who are concerned about the planned use of Generative AI (e.g. Copilot) at VSB schools.
As parents and guardians of children at VSB schools, we do not consent to our children being exposed to generative AI in schools.
As citizens of Vancouver, we are concerned that the long-term impacts of Generative AI on learning and mental health have not been adequately considered by Vancouver School Board.
We ask that:
1. Vancouver School Board clarify its plans regarding the use of Generative AI tools in classrooms.
2. Vancouver School Board require schools to ask parents/guardians for consent before children use Generative AI in the classroom, and allow parents them to opt-out.