AI and AI-enabled systems and applications are becoming increasingly integral in our daily lives. They are transforming rather than revolutionizing way we communicate, the way we work, and the way we learn. The introduction of AI has been a much-talked-about theme, but this introduction is being hampered due to serious limitations. The blog in hand will help you understand the challenges education institutions and teachers are facing worldwide whole adopting AI.
AI in Education Sector:
As a tool, AI has found widespread acceptance in educational institutions. Teachers and administrations are employing both advanced and basic AI techniques such as deep learning, data mining, Natural Language Processing, and more for facilitating the management and teaching processes in schools, colleges, and universities.
AI has the potential to greatly improve the learning process. For instance, the application of AI-enabled systems and applications has helped improve the effectiveness of teaching and provided an improved learning experience for students. And more importantly, this can help design and implement personalized and customized study material as per the needs and capabilities of learners/students.
Applications Of AI In the Education Sector:
AI is being applied in education sectors in numerous ways, for example:
- AI is being used to automate repetitive basic activities such as attendance, grading, and scheduling.
- It helps institutions offer additional support to students with AI tutors/chatbots that can provide guidance, feedback, and assistance 24/7.
- It can be used to generate smart content such as summaries, flashcards, quizzes, and interactive simulations.
- Advanced tools such as Virtual Reality, Gamification, blockchain, and Metaverse can help transform the education sector.
- The learning process of special children can be facilitated by AI-enabled voice assistants, speech recognition, and adaptive learning techniques.
The Role of Chat GPT, Google Bard, and Other AI Chatbots in the Education Sector:
AI-content generative tools such as ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Microsoft Bing AI are playing a significant role in the education sector.
- They are being used to provide personalized learning experiences and target support for students.
- They act as Virtual Tutors offering students immediate feedback and guidance.
- Chat GPT and other tools are gateways to access information. They are being used by students for researching topics, answering questions, and accessing relevant study materials.
- They are a great help in language learning by engaging learners in conversations and providing language practice opportunities.
- These AI Chatbots are acting as Virtual Assistance for teachers, helping them to lesson plans, suggest education resources, and automate repetitive administrative tasks.
- They are also playing a key role in the professional development of teaching students. The staff of educational institutions are using them for finding and accessing a wide range of educational resources, research articles, and best teaching practices and mythologies.
Challenges in the application of AI-enabled Tools in Educational Institutions:
But the application of AI in classrooms and other areas related to education is not without challenges. The immediate address of these limitations should be the topmost priority of policymakers.
Here are some challenges and limitations that are hindering the integration of AI-enabled tools and resources in education systems.
AI-Enabled Tools Lack the Deeper Understanding:
First things first, ChatGPT and other content-generating tools don’t have an understanding of the meaning of the words they process. They are just capable of identifying patterns and generating plausible and seemingly convincing answers, but they don’t have the concept behind the words. This lack of understanding of the meaning of the words they process and generate can produce results that lack depth and insight. And sometimes, they can produce results that are completely off-the-topic and just dance around the words.
This lack of deeper and contextual understanding poses many risks to the education sector, such as
- Teachers understand fully the requirements of each student and his cultural and socio-economic background, AI tools don’t know this. Therefore, their use in the development of personalized curriculum should be avoided, or introduced gradually, otherwise, it may cause a reversal in the learning process.
- Similarly, essay grading does demand a deeper grasp of the subject matter, therefore, they should not be used in such areas of education.
AI Tools Find It Hard to Evaluate the Quality of Response:
Google Bard, Bing AI, and ChatGPT, among others, don’t possess the human ability to assess the quality of data they have been trained on. This limitation hinders their ability accurately evaluate the quality and correctness of generated information and knowledge. Furthermore, ChatGPT, the most advanced AI-content-generating tool, doesn’t have limited knowledge after 2021. This lack of updated data leads to inaccurate or outdated information and knowledge.
Their inability to accurately analyze the relevance and correctness of generated information is a serious limitation that the educational sector is facing. That’s why they are reluctant to fully incorporate them into the formal learning process.
AI Can Perpetuate Biasness and Discrimination:
The existing biases in training data, algorithm design, and societal context can be perpetuated by AI chatbots. Since Chat GPT and other tools don’t have a nuanced understanding of information and they cannot even read between the lines, the existing discrimination prevalent in big data can thus be further mainstreamed and strengthened.
In 2018, Amazon abruptly terminated its AI-enabled recruitment program because it was revealed that the system was biased against women because the data on it was trained was heavily dominated by male resumes.
This limitation can adversely impact the education and learning process. For instance,
- there are legitimate concerns that AI-content generative devoid of human-level social intelligence and contextual understanding could promote further discrimination whether gender or race already widespread in educational institutions.
- If these tools are trained on data from Western Europe countries, the generated responses of these platforms can contain biases against students of other regions, at worst, or these responses are not suitable for them at best.
AI Tools Lack Creativity and Originality:
Though AI-enabled tools and resources can generate text that is hard to detect by traditional anti-plagiarism software, they lack creativity, ingenuity, and originality. Since the response they generate is based upon the patterns they detect from existing data and information, they are devoid of novelty and innovative approaches in their solution to a problem, prompted by a student.
Furthermore, the continued over-reliance on these AI tools can lead to a situation where students would lose creative and critical skills.
The High-Order Thinking Skills are Missing:
Though Google Bard and other AI chatbots are known for generating and developing complex learning outcomes, they are not equipped with high-order thinking skills such as critical and analytical thinking. Resultantly, AI chatbots cannot be deployed in high-order thinking-type questions.
It is therefore advised not to deploy AI chatbots in those sectors of education where high-order thinking about the subject matter is required. It is their limitation; one must bear this in one’s mind.
The Plagiarism and Cheating at Academic/Research Level:
The widespread use of AI tools can give rise to many ethical issues such as plagiarism and cheating. And as per Open AI, the most powerful AI tool, ChatGPT is prone to give error-based responses or misinformation. But given the promising capability of these platforms, students can use them for research or completing assignments without realizing that it may lead to plagiarized responses. The copy-paste culture would dominate research and other advanced fields.
Furthermore, the overreliance on ChatGPT and other tools would lead to the spread of misinformation in scientific publications with grave consequences for everyone.
Over-Dependence Can Lead to Decline in Higher-Level Cognitive Skills:
The simplification in the process of obtaining information or gaining answers can have adverse impacts on the cognitive skills of both teachers and students alike. The high-level cognitive abilities such as reasoning, critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving would diminish. There would be no motivation at all to find solutions through independent research.
Similarly, the overuse by teachers can reduce their interaction with students. Their expertise in their subject matter would also deteriorate over the longer run. There is no alternative to human insights, experiences, and diverse perspectives, whenever any institution would attempt to replace them with AI tools, it would damage the overall learning process and environment.
Emotional Intelligence and Empathy are Missing in AI Tools:
AI-content generative tools don’t have emotional intelligence and empathy which play a crucial role in facilitating the learning process in education institutions. Though these tools have made significant progress toward the natural language process and understanding, they cannot sympathize with and understand the emotions of humans.
Therefore, AI tools cannot replicate the functions that human teachers do in education settings such as provision of emotional support, development of a safe and inclusive learning environment, and understanding of the unique needs and requirements of students.
These are some of the many problems that are impeding the introduction of AI-enabled tools and resources in the education sector. But what is the response of the leading international universities to the application of AI in the education sector?
Let’s have a look.
How Are Universities Responding to the Use of AI in the Education Sector
Universities and educationists have mixed opinions about the introduction of AI in education sectors.
For instance,
- Some universities are opposing the widespread use of AI in research and completing assignment. The University of the West of England (UWE) has warned against using ChatGPT in assignments in February 2023. The administration warned that students found using AI tools would be punished. Their main concerns are plagiarism, the decline in cognitive and critical thinking, and other above-mentioned limitations.
- On the other hand, some universities are embracing AI in a selected and targeted manner. They are integrating AI in teaching and learning, student support services, professional development, and other areas.
Major Takeaways:
- The introduction of AI in education sectors is not bad per see. AI is offering tremendous opportunities to improve the education sector and strengthen the learning process, but there are some challenges and limitations.
- The introduction should be gradual and well-considered. Educationists should reflect on this issue deeply and take advantage of AI tools while attempting to minimize the risks and threats.
- Education institutions should redesign curricula including learning objectives, learning tasks, and assessment criteria.
- The interventions should be made to enhance the student’s capability of evaluating, assessing, and properly use of AI tools more effectively.