Let's talk about Artificial Intelligence

Tell us your thoughts on the use of AI in education below.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing at a super fast rate and is now affecting everyone’s daily lives, sometimes without us even realising. But what is it and how does it work? And what does it mean for you?

Simply put, AI is a technology that allows computers to solve problems in the way a human brain could. You have probably been using AI for some time without even thinking about it, for example, this technology is behind the likes of Siri and Alexa, voice-controlled virtual assistants. So, if you’ve ever asked Alexa to tell you the weather or Siri to compose a message for you, then you’re already using AI. And, remember when spell-checkers were first a thing in the 1990s? That’s artificial intelligence technology, too! 

AI also helps social media sites decide which posts to show users. You know when you get a suggested friend or post on Facebook or Instagram, this is down to artificial intelligence pre-empting what you might like based on what it already knows about you. It learns and stores information about you based on what posts you’ve ‘liked’ previously, what pages you ‘follow’, and who you are ‘friends’ with. And, in the past few years, chatbots have become huge; changing the face of how we deal with companies for customer service. You can now get immediate feedback and answers to queries via a ‘Chat’ button, although these aren’t always reliable.

AI in Education

Could it be positive...

Artificial intelligence in education could level the playing field; it could make learning more inclusive and more equitable. Not only that, but it could equate to huge advancements for teachers whereby they can utilise these technologies to enhance teaching practices, which would in turn benefit the students. Another potential benefit is that AI could free up time in the classroom. Currently, teachers spend less than half of their working time* teaching due to everything else involved e.g., endless paperwork and lengthy lesson preparation. But artificial intelligence could carry out some of those routine admin tasks meaning more time to interact with students, build relationships, and enrich the learning and development process. 

Or negative?

On the flip side there is a very real worry that AI in education could lead to cheating and instead of tech supporting students and removing barriers it would end up doing the work for them. Take the creative writing process, AI could singlehandedly write your essays but then what learning does the student get from this? This ‘shortcut’ doesn’t provide real development, all it gives the learner is an easy way out! 

Inspiration seeks to provide students with an efficient tool to help with the creative writing process; it won't do the work for you.

*How AI can transform education for students and teachers | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

What do you think? Comment below.