On Tuesday, the United States' second-largest teachers union announced a historic collaboration with Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic, three leaders in artificial intelligence, to create a comprehensive training program that will assist instructors become proficient in the field.

During a press conference in New York, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, stated that one of the many difficulties facing educators is handling AI sensibly, morally, and securely.

"We are collaborating with these partners to ensure they comprehend our dedication to our students, particularly in the absence of regulations and safeguards from the US government."

1.8 million members in the US, ranging from elementary school to high school, are represented by the AFT.

With students turning to ChatGPT for anything from essay writing to homework assistance, generative AI has already started to transform education.

In the meantime, educators face challenges related to plagiarism, academic integrity, and how to modify conventional teaching strategies.

The AI behemoths are spending $23 million to build a training facility in New York to help educators understand generative AI.

Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic are each providing $12.5 million, $10 million, and $500,000, respectively.

Instead of creating new AI interfaces, the five-year project aims to acquaint educators with already-available resources.

With the goal of serving 400,000 individuals over the course of five years, the National Academy for AI Teaching will begin its training program this fall.

Microsoft employees are already taking part in this week's tech refresher course.

Approximately 200,000 teachers in New York are represented by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), one of the AFT's affiliates.

Michael Mulgrew, the president of UFT, compared artificial intelligence (AI) to social networking, which seemed exciting when it first started but ended up being "a dumpster fire," in his opinion.

"We're all very skeptical, but we also are very hopeful," he said.