Bill preventing AI instructors in Illinois community college courses passes Senate
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Artificial intelligence has crept into many spaces, but state lawmakers are trying to ensure they're not leading classrooms.
A bill in the Illinois Capitol would bar community colleges from having AI teach any class. Instructors would still be able to use AI if they choose, but every course would need a human assigned to it.
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The bill's sponsor, Sen. Mike Porfirio (D-Lyons Township), said it's important to be proactive when it comes to regulating AI.
'We need to make sure that we find the appropriate role of AI on our society, whether that's academia, business, etcetera,' the senator said. 'I think there's certainly some good and exciting things that it may bring. But we need to make sure it's not replacing faculty or staff; you want to protect teachers' jobs.'
Porfirio added that instructors are irreplaceable to students.
'It's recognizing, acknowledging the value that instructors bring to students lives and development,' he said. 'Not only academically but holistically as well.'
The bill passed the Senate 46-12 Wednesday.
This comes after Harvard University announced plans to have AI teach an Introduction to Computer Science course. Students in CS50 (which has hundreds of students enrolled on campus and thousands online) are allowed to use AI designed by instructors to help explain and advise lines of code.
Harvard professor David Malan said in a lecture about the AI instructor at Ai4 in 2023 that the tools have generally boosted student's grades. In feedback they shared with Malan about the AI bot, one student said they loved how nonjudgmental the bot was in answering 'stupid' questions.
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'It has, as one could expect, an inhuman level of patience,' the student wrote in their course review.
In a statement, the Illinois Community College Board said no community college in the state has any plans on using AI to substitute instructors.
'Our colleges remain firmly committed to the value of faculty-led instruction and educators' critical role in student learning, support, and success,' the group said in a statement to WCIA. 'The ICCB will continue to monitor developments in educational technology while upholding our mission to provide accessible, high-quality education across the state.'
The bill is based off of a California law that went into effect in 2024.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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