Doing AI the Milton Way

AI Club

Artificial intelligence is already transforming how people learn, work, and connect, and it’s here to stay. Ignoring it would mean risking being left behind amidst this huge generational shift. Hence, as critical thinkers, we must learn to reconcile AI use with our current mode of learning and creating. At Milton, a school that prides itself on critical thinking and ethics–crucial skills that AI threatens to replace–we can’t blindly embrace AI. Instead, we must look past simply knowing about this technology, to actually understanding and questioning it, the Milton way. Successfully adapting to AI is not about being the best prompt engineer or vibe coder out there; it’s about having a true understanding of the cultural, economic, and societal shifts that this technology brings. 

At AI Club, we aim to explore these fundamental questions surrounding AI. Can we use AI to enhance our learning, rather than diminish it? Who gains access to opportunity as AI becomes increasingly widespread? What happens to the future of work, creativity, and even academia as AI progresses and reaches new benchmarks? 

At a school like Milton, it’s unfair to our students and institution to assume that students will use AI for only academic shortcuts. As a Milton community, we are inherently intellectually curious, strive to fulfill our academic potential. So, we are the ones responsible for our own learning, and we must find ways for AI to supplement and build upon it. For example, English teacher Dr. Nurenberg requires his students to enter their essay prompt into ChatGPT before they write, helping students understand where AI falls and thrives, so they can create their own strategy for using and avoiding it. In Honors Biology, some AI-literate students turn to NotebookLM, an AI studying tool, to deepen their understanding of the material, not to truncate it. 

This work belongs across campus, not just in the basement of the AMC. Responsible engagement looks like purposeful use based on Milton’s values of curiosity, rigor, and honesty. Likely, Milton students will shape the next generation of technologies and institutions. AI Club’s role is to ensure they step into that future informed, critical, and ready to build systems that expand opportunity. 

We “defend” AI at Milton not out of blind enthusiasm, but out of responsibility. We refuse to be left behind by technological progress; instead, we strive to shape this technological revolution and the society that comes with it, while helping the Milton community recognize AI’s full potential when used responsibly.