When and How to Use AI
AI is a transformative tool that can supercharge your productivity—if you know when and how to use it. However, it’s also a rapidly evolving technology with specific strengths, weaknesses, and ethical considerations. Drawing inspiration from Professor Ethan Mollick this blog provides practical, research-backed insights into AI’s best use cases for school psychologists and the most capable AI models available today.
Here are 15 scenarios where AI can significantly enhance your workflow:
Generating Quantity – AI can rapidly generate multiple hypotheses, intervention ideas, or behavioral strategies. Good for brainstorming/spitballing.
Expert-Assisted Work – AI can support school psychologists in drafting various documents (e.g., reports), summarizing literature, or interpreting research findings, provided the user can assess its accuracy.
Summarizing Large Texts – AI excels at condensing journal articles, policy documents, etc. (especially NotebookLM).
Translating Between Perspectives – Convert psychoeducational reports into summaries for parents, teachers, or administrators.
Overcoming Writer’s Block – AI can suggest multiple ways to phrase documents when you hit road blocks.
Surpassing the Best Available Human – For certain data analysis tasks, AI may provide insights faster than manual processing.
Providing Context – Use AI to break down complex theories or interventions for easier understanding. Especially if they are new to you (or you haven't encountered them since graduate school).
Generating Variance – AI can rewrite a document in multiple formats for different audiences - think a jargonless report for parents and a list of bullets for parent’s pediatrician.
Coding Assistance – If involved in research, program evaluation, etc., AI models can assist with statistical analysis and programming (e.g., R, Python, SPSS).
Simulating Different Viewpoints – AI can provide insights into how different stakeholders (parents, students, administrators) may respond to situations (see # 12 for more).
Entrepreneurial Support – AI can assist in developing grant proposals. It can help you figure out ways to augment your income. This is perhaps my favorite idea!
Generating Specific Personas – AI can simulate common concerns from parents, students, and educators for role-playing or training purposes (contentious meeting coming up!).
Automating Redundant Tasks – AI is useful for reducing busywork in documentation and administrative tasks (documentation woes!).
Providing a Second Opinion – AI can help identify potential areas for further evaluation or alternative intervention strategies.
Handling Tasks Better Than Humans – AI is continually improving in data visualization, pattern recognition, and structured report generation. Tasks that it excels at will keep expanding.
When Not to Use AI: 6 Key Scenarios
While AI is powerful, there are crucial instances where it may be counterproductive for school psychologists:
When Handling Personally Identifiable Information (if you don’t have a FERPA compliant model and a formal agreement)– School psychologists should check with their district or organization before entering any student data into an AI tool. Many tasks do not require PII, and AI should not be used for confidential data without clear safeguards.
When Accuracy is Critical – AI hallucinations can produce plausible but incorrect interpretations, making it unreliable for definitive, autonomous, decision making. This is tied directly to point number 1!
When You Don’t Understand Its Failure Modes – AI fails in ways humans don’t. Without understanding its weaknesses, school psychologists may be misled. Know what your favorite AI tools do poorly as well as what they do well.
When the Process Matters – Struggling with an assessment or report is often necessary for clinical insight. AI shortcuts may undermine professional judgment. This is especially true for trainees and early career school psychologists.
When AI is Simply Bad at the Task – AI excels in some areas but struggles with others - experimentation is the best way to figure out use cases.
When You Need to Learn and Synthesize New Ideas or Information – AI-generated summaries don’t replace the deep understanding gained from direct study. Engaging with material firsthand is crucial for professional development and critical thinking.
Which LLMs Should School Psychologists Use?
With many AI models available, choosing the right one can be overwhelming. Here’s an updated breakdown of the top AI (non-psychology) models, including compliance considerations:
ChatGPT (GPT-4o & o1 Family) – Best for overall versatility, live interactions, and advanced reasoning. However, OpenAI’s standard version is not explicitly FERPA/HIPAA compliant.
Claude (Claude 3.5 Sonnet) – Known for insightful, nuanced responses. Best for users who prioritize clarity and creativity but lacks web access. Not FERPA/HIPAA compliant.
Gemini (Gemini 2.0 Flash) – Google’s Gemini offers robust web search integration, powerful image generation, and vast memory capacity. Enterprise versions may be FERPA/HIPAA compliant, but verification with your district is necessary.
DeepSeek – A strong reasoning model with open-source flexibility but lacks compliance guarantees. The web version is not FERPA/HIPAA compliant. You can run DeepSeek locally, though, which is a great option for privacy - to run it locally, you may want to consult with your district’s IT professional(s).
Copilot (Microsoft) – **Enterprise versions may offer FERPA/HIPAA compliance, making it a safer choice for school settings. **
Key Features to Consider for School Psychologists
FERPA/HIPAA Compliance – Only certain enterprise versions of Gemini and Copilot may be compliant. Always check with your organization before entering student data.
Live Mode & Multimodal Capabilities – ChatGPT offers live voice and vision capabilities.
Reasoning Models – OpenAI’s o1/o3 series and DeepSeek excel at complex problem-solving.
Web Access & Real-Time Search – Gemini and ChatGPT offer the best web search capabilities.
Document & Image Processing – Gemini and Claude perform best with PDFs, while ChatGPT leads in interactive data analysis.
Privacy Considerations – Claude and Gemini do not train on user data, whereas ChatGPT offers an opt-out option. Never enter any PII into any model unless you are 100% that you have a formal agreement in place and your provider is FERPA compliant.
The Bottom Line: Use AI Wisely and Ethically
AI has the potential to transform the work of school psychologists, but its use must be carefully considered within ethical and legal boundaries. Many AI-assisted tasks, such as brainstorming, summarization, and data analysis, do not require PII and can be safely leveraged. However, always check with your district or organization regarding FERPA and HIPAA compliance before using AI for student-related work.
By experimenting with the right tools and staying informed on AI’s evolving capabilities, school psychologists can enhance their efficiency while maintaining the highest standards of ethical practice.