The “Ivan Vazov” Language High School in Plovdiv has introduced artificial intelligence as a subject starting this school year. The innovation was implemented under the program for innovative schools and has been approved by the Ministry of Education and Science. The high school is presented as the only school in the country that teaches artificial intelligence as a separate subject, BNT reported.
Around 230 eighth graders from six language classes are studying “Global Communications and Artificial Intelligence”. The teaching is in Bulgarian, there is no textbook, and the lessons are mainly conducted using electronic devices. The subject is mandatory and is included in the students' curriculum for the next three years.
Deputy director Todor Atanasov points out that the classes will not be limited to the use of technological tools. “We are talking about artificial intelligence, about technologies, but we will not rely only on them. We also rely on creative writing“, he says.
The students will work with plots from popular literature, films and TV series, and through artificial intelligence they will change the development of familiar stories. The goal is to trace how an event would develop under different circumstances.
The classes discuss everyday situations, and the students learn to think critically and check information. Among the tasks is recognizing fake news and assessing what to do with questionable content.
“How to distinguish fake news from real news, when we see some information, what our next actions will be, whether we will check the authenticity, whether we will share it or believe it“, explains eighth-grader Gabriela Shumkova.
Students are already using artificial intelligence in their preparation for other subjects. Shumkova says that the tools help her get a brief plan or explanation when she does not understand a given material. Petar Tsvetkov points out that through them she can create diagrams and images that facilitate the presentation of things invisible in a real environment.
For Iva Arabadzhiyska, learning is related to the way young people communicate and learn. She notes that her generation uses social networks and electronic devices daily and will continue to apply artificial intelligence.