Artificial intelligence in education

Artificial intelligence is making its way into education. Some claim AI will revolutionize education, while others claim AI will take over teaching at the expense of students and teachers. 

In 2021, I was asked to appear on KUSI News, a local news station out of San Diego, to talk about AI’s role in education. 

The reporter asked, “Is AI being integrated into the curriculum for high schoolers right now?”

It is. 

40% of the jobs that exist today will cease to exist by the time today’s kindergarteners graduate high school. For this reason, we have to start getting students ready, providing them with the basic skills to understand and utilize AI.

First, let’s talk about art and philosophy, two themes rarely linked (so far) to AI.

Aside from the typical skill sets so often associated with artificial intelligence – science, technology, math, and engineering – what’s actually in demand are skills in art and philosophy. 

We can trust machines to make recommendations and, in some cases, decisions, but this means that machines have to understand numerous scenarios; machines will have to employ critical thinking and thought exercises, which is philosophy.

We always think about how we can get people to engage with our products or services, how to improve experiences, and that’s art.

Not a lot of attention is being paid yet to those skills in philosophy and art. But it’s coming.

In education, beyond some tools for teachers and administrators, there’s a big push to use AI for individualized curriculums. Everybody learns differently. By providing teachers with tools to assist students learn in the ways that are most fitting for them, teachers can teach to each student, rather than to the whole group and the lowest common denominator. Teachers, administrators and parents can assess how each child learns, identify what and where they’re strongest, and where they’re weakest, providing the most valuable experience for the educator and the student. 

How is this data collected?

Part of it is performance-based – like how it’s done in school today — but part of it is based on psychographic profiling and neurolinguistics, taking into consideration the personality, the attitude and interests of the child, as well as the words they choose to communicate. This reveals whether they’re auditory or visual learners, and what they may be very good at. 

So what can we expect of AI in education over the next few years? We’ve already begun taking initial steps to get students ready for the jobs of tomorrow, but we’re going to see a lot more integration. Change happens so quickly, and we need to start showing our students what’s possible. 

For the teachers who fear the arrival of AI, I’d like to give them comfort that this technology is actually going to make teachers more effective – it’s not designed to replace them. There is no way to replace human teachers; there are intrinsic things that can never be substituted. The goal with AI in education is to simplify, to be able to do more with less, to create a partner for teachers. 

And of course, to prepare our students for the wonderful world to come.

Neil Sahota (萨冠军) is an IBM Master Inventor, United Nations (UN) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Advisor, author of the best-seller Own the AI Revolution and sought after speaker.

With 20+ years of business experience, Neil works to inspire clients and business partners to foster innovation and develop next generation products/solutions powered by emerging technology.

To learn more, click here.