The Role of AI in Education
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By Arige Shrouf
If you’ve ever used a digital assistant, autocorrect, or facial recognition or have ever sent a robot to vacuum then you’re no stranger to smart technology. Like many new technologies, artificial intelligence presents unique opportunities to make our lives easier. When used effectively, it can become a great teaching aide and an asset to student learning.
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In education, generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Jasper are already being used by students and teachers. AI applications in schools nationwide also include learning platform and virtual facilitators, Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS), smart content, and fraud & risk management. These and other useful AI tools can help teachers create more personalized lesson plans and student feedback, develop creative ideas for their classrooms, generate writing prompts and rubrics, and build background knowledge for new lessons. AI can also enable students to engage more in critical thinking and analysis as they spend less time on writing assignments or “busy work.” Ideally, these tools would make teaching easier for the teacher and learning more fun and engaging for the student without affecting the quality of education. To that end, many schools and universities are already determining how to encourage thoughtful use of AI as they strive to work with these technologies.
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As with any new technology, AI also creates a host of new challenges to overcome. Concerns about how students can utilize AI to cheat on assignments or present work that is not their own are very real. AI-generated content makes it harder to detect plagiarism and enhances existing risks to data privacy and security. It can also generate content that is incorrect or inappropriate. Many educators are also concerned that a reliance on these technologies may encourage a lack of focus on learning the fundamentals of writing and reading comprehension.
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The U.S. Department of Education and UNESCO outline the way forward as one in which AI technologies are developed specifically with education and educators in mind. The goal of these technologies must be to make teachers more effective educators rather than attempting to make AI an effective replacement. As these technologies develop, they will continue to change and reshape education and learning, making both more accessible and impactful to students. Teachers will continue to explore how best to utilize AI to help their students and enhance their education, but in the meantime, education itself is on a learning curve.
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Did You Know?
美国斯坦福大学 held the first AI+ Education Summit in February 2023. It was one of the first workshops dedicated to exploring the uses of AI in education and what it might mean for the future of teaching.