Artificial Intelligence is one of the key drivers of innovation and growth across many sectors, including the educational one. The worldwide adaption of technology in education is transforming and will continue to transform the way we learn and the way we teach. It is believed that Artificial Intelligence is one of the disruptive techniques that will customize the experience of students as well as teachers (Plitnichenko, 2021).
An example of an AI technology used in education which can possibly replace teachers are intelligent tutoring systems. These intelligent tutoring systems are able to measure the current level of knowledge the student has and are able to understand the style of learning that is preferred by the individual student. Consequently, personalized education to each particular student will become more evident. This concept is also called adaptive learning (Fedena, 2018).
A famous example of this is the teaching assistant chatbot Jill Watson who was developed in 2016 and is still being improved. She is able to answer questions from students about a particular class and curriculum. She has a tremendous amount of knowledge of the classes and also understand which learning style best suits the particular students (Chace, 2020). With the help of teaching assistants such as Jill Watson, it is possible that education can me more closely tailored to each student’s individual preferences and needs. Maybe even better than teachers can.
The reason that it is unlikely that assistants like Jill Watsons and adaptive learning will replace teachers in the future is because these technologies are still, amongst other things, unable to determine whether a student for example learns better visually or actively and cannot create an emotional bond with the student. Whereas the human factor will always be essential, these AI programs could possibly become a powerful tool in improving education. On top of that, it is likely that teachers will be the ones that drive the usage of AI based technologies to better assess the needs of their students (Fedena, 2018).
In conclusion, despite what one may think, teachers are too valuable to be replaced, even in the AI age. However, it may be joining them as colleagues in the foreseeable future.
References
Chace, C. (2020, October 29). The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Education. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/calumchace/2020/10/29/the-impact-of-artificial-intelligence-on-education/?sh=599b79650dfb
Fedena. (2018, August 3). Artificial Intelligence in education – How it improves the learning experience? Fedena Blog. https://fedena.com/blog/2018/03/artificial-intelligence-in-education-how-it-improves-the-leaning-experience.html
Marr, B. (2021, July 13). How Is AI Used In Education — Real World Examples Of Today And A Peek Into The Future. Bernard Marr. https://bernardmarr.com/how-is-ai-used-in-education-real-world-examples-of-today-and-a-peek-into-the-future/
Plitnichenko, L. (2021, May 12). 5 Main Roles Of Artificial Intelligence In Education. ELearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/5-main-roles-artificial-intelligence-in-education
Hi Sara,
I really liked your post on AI in education, to me it is one of the most interesting applications of AI. I absolutely agree with you that the human factor remains very important in education, especially because education (particularly for children) is not only about learning certain knowledge, but also about cognitive development. I am really curious as to what AI might bring to education in the coming years.
By the way, if you find the concept of adaptive learning interesting, you might also be intrigued by ‘extended reality’ and how it may disrupt the education industry.
Hi Sara,
thank you for your post – it was very interesting to read how AI is being used in education and what the future possibilities may be.
Personally, I am a bit torn regarding the usage of AI in education. On the one hand, I do think it creates great opportunities to offer students additional support. In a class with 20-30 children, a human teacher can of course not give equal attention to every student, so having AI as additional support could allow for a more individual and personalized approach to teaching. Especially those students, that maybe need a bit more time and more in-depth explanations compared to their peers, and would otherwise risk being left behind, could greatly benefit from AI. So in that sense, I think the application of AI can be very valuable.
On the other hand, I do most definitely agree with you that teachers are too valuable to replace. It is similar with the internet – in theory, students could of course find all relevant information online for free, but as Daan mentioned, teachers also support students in their overall cognitive development. I do not think that AI could allow for this, as it simply lacks the emotional abilities that a human has. Moreover, I think it comes with serious moral challenges, as education is one of the most crucial sectors in a society. The developers of the AI applications would therefore have a lot of influence and power, which would be quite difficult to control. Also, as for instance applications of AI in hiring tools showed in the past, algorithms and as such AI are quite very vulnerable to hidden biases and can result in discriminatory decision-making. An AI in education that holds hidden discriminatory biases could as such have very severe consequences for the students. Therefore, I think AI could be valuable as an additional support to human teachers but should only be used on a limited scale.