Pacifica Stories

What can AI do for you?
Artificial Intelligence has the education sector on edge. Is writing as we know it obsolete? Are teachers necessary? Will cheating flourish? These questions and more are the day's topics in teachers' lounges and at educational conferences on best practices.

With the help of parents Jamie and Erin Siminoff, Pacifica has jumped in to answer questions like these and see how AI might improve education. When the calculator came onto the scene, we thought mathematics was ruined. The calculator is commonplace today, and math is still vital to the school curriculum. Like the calculator, we ask, “Where will AI take us in the future?”

Publishing a Book in One Semester
Pacifica has embarked on a project to answer this question by integrating AI technology, English, and ethics. Can students use AI responsibility to complete a previously impossible task for large groups of students? Students will be asked to research, write, edit, and publish a book in one semester using AI technology. Previously, publishing a book was off-limits to most high school students. They didn’t have the time. With AI, can it be done and done virtuously? This is the question that the Siminoffs, the Pacifica faculty, and the students want to know.

English teacher Hillary Miller and computer science teacher Andrew Budiman will team teach a course starting in January 2024 to answer this question. The product will be a published book. The process will take eight students through technology, machine learning, composition, theology, ethics, and more. Students will be asked to reflect on what they learned, the good uses of AI, the negative uses of AI, and what other uses are there for AI technology. What don’t we know that we will know after the course? After the course, the team is eager to see what additional uses can be effectively implemented into the school in 2024-2025 and how it might make a broader impact nationally. 

Pacifica parent Jamie Siminoff brought the idea for the course to the Pacifica staff and is partnering to see the results. Siminoff is an American entrepreneur, prominent leader in the tech industry, and inventor best known for founding Ring, a smart home security company he developed in his garage in Santa Monica, California. His 2013 appearance on Shark Tank brought exposure to the company, and Ring has since become a household name. Jamie’s journey from a garage-based start-up to a global brand is an inspiring story of persistence and vision.

Pacifica is invested in interdisciplinary learning, making connections, and educating all aspects of a student's soul while preparing them for the future. Partnering with the Siminoffs to publish a book in a semester using AI is an exciting adventure that reflects our core values and will inspire our community to fulfill our mission of thinking and living well.