AI Will Change the Role of the Teacher ... and the Learner ... FOREVER

Watch this clip below and think of a classroom. Standardized content is given to every incoming batch. They are tested and moved to the next grade. Personalized tutoring is the privilege of the rich. All that is set to change as the world's biggest reskilling program is underway with the help of AI. We can finally build play and fun into learning. And build creativity and problem solving in every job description.

A change bigger than electricity

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the nature of work in many ways. It can understand and translate languages, recognize and create images, and write drafts. It learns from data and improves over time. This is a bigger change than electricity, which just powered machines. AI will change how we work, live and learn.

The Skills Pyramid

The skills needed to do any work has a shelf life. Any skill that most people in the workforce has will get commoditized. Using a mobile phone is not going to get anyone a bonus.

Employers are willing to pay for marketable skills. A degree or certificate is usually treated as evidence of a skill. When too many people chase too few jobs, there is degree inflation. (Read this )

A niche skill is the most valued. One sign of a niche skill is that there is no structured way to learn the skill. The supply of talent is limited because the job needs skills that are hard to find or involve working in hazardous environments. Sometimes special regulations create the need for niche skills. The rapid spread of AI is creating a scenario when every job is getting reimagined.

The world's biggest reskilling program has begun

Employers are using AI for writing code, copywriting/content creation, customer support, and creating summaries of meetings or documents. Writing job descriptions, drafting interview questions and responding to every applicant in a personalized manner are all ways in which AI is doing what humans used to. (read more )

That means we need to reskill almost everyone in the workforce. This is where AI can truly transform education. Education has been designed much like the mass production system of factories. It treats all learners to be the same. The content is the same and the same test is given to every student to assess their knowledge. The result is an education system that does not build the skills the employer needs nor does it build a love for the subject in most students. Corporate L&D programs are also modeled on the same lines.

AI can personalize the learning experience

Benjamin Bloom found that one-on-one tutoring, followed by regular tests and feedback, resulted in the average student performing 2 standard deviations (sigma) above the average of the control class.?2 standard deviations is roughly 2 whole grades, say a C to an A.

1. A personalized tutor for every student: Personalized tutoring is not scalable and it is therefore the privilege of only the rich. AI can finally give everyone the ability to get a personal tutor. That can mean every learner can be coached and tested and explained a subject with examples that draw on the learner's interests.
2. Learn in a language you wish to: Language can no longer be a barrier. Imagine a ten-year-old in a remote village being able to speak to Einstein in any language as he explains the magic of his theory. AI makes that possible.
3. Testing to deepen proficiency: Frequent testing and quizzing followed by an explanation followed by quizzing is the approach the best tutors use. Every student around the world can have AI be that coach and tutor.

That is how every student can be an A-grade student in every subject. A teacher would find it impossible to give personalized tutoring to every student in the class. They have to create lesson plans, correct the homework and grade test papers (the biggest reason why I did not take up teaching in a B-School).

Will AI make teachers unemployed?

The role of the teacher will change. AI can help a teacher get access to dozens of teaching assistants who can create lesson plans, create and grade tests for each student and even tell the teacher where the student has spent a few seconds only writing an essay that should have taken half an hour ("teacher, pl check for originality...") ??????????

1. Giving students personalized feedback and guidance based on their learning needs and goals.
2. Helping teachers identify which students are struggling or excelling and how to support them better
3. Teachers will spend time to mentor, coach and inspire students.

The value of the teacher will be in the human interactions - not in grading papers. Perhaps not even in teaching the content.

In the corporations, L&D teams will have to use AI to learn about AI. That is the ONLY way to keep pace with the rapid change in every job description that exists in any company.

We can finally build play and fun into learning. And build creativity and problem solving in every job description.

Listen to Sal Khan describe how Khan Academy is embedding AI to create personalized tutoring for every student. Corporate L&D teams would be smart to do a fast-follow on this as they seek to redesign every job to incorporate AI. This is an INCREDIBLE opportunity for each one of us.

This video also has the story of Sultana who had only 8 years on Khan Academy and her SAT score to change her life <watch it here >

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