A.I. is already deeply entrenched in American schools, and more is on the way. At the most recent iteration of Bank of Montrealâs annual Capital Markets Back to School conference for technology investors, reported panel moderator Jill Barshay, editor at the Hechinger Report, products in the works included anti-plagiarism software, a gamified assessment in which young children read to a computer screen, and a tool for verifying that students in online courses are, in fact, who they say they are.
Still, compared with efforts to envision the future, discussion of what AI offers education right now was decidedly less breathless and more pragmatic.
âMachine learning is great, but I want to think more about human learning,â said TCâs Sandra Okita, Associate Professor of Technology & Education, who studies the use of robots and avatars as âpeer learnersâ that children can sometimes teach as a means of strengthening their own understanding of concepts. Okita added that âa system doesnât have to be intelligent to help you learn.â But if AI technologies are going to be deployed, she said, itâs important to remember that âtools are just objects, unless used purposefully â the key is what relationship you develop with them. And thatâs where learning methodologies such as role play, scripting and dialogical instruction can work really well.â
In a similar vein, Margaret Price, Principal Design Strategist for Microsoft, said that the huge multinational technology company has reoriented itself around the principle of inclusive design. Partly that means doing design both for individuals and âall 7 billion people on the planet,â and partially it means facilitating group interactions so that students can become âdigital citizens, collaborators and competitorsâ who can âthrive in a digital economy in safe, ethical ways.
âWeâre looking at co-creation to form hypotheses about creating solutions together,â Price said. âItâs not about novelty or technology for technologyâs sake, but about trying to drive student outcomes.â
Stefania Druga, founder of HakIDemia and Afrimakers and creator of , a platform for AI education for families, said that with 47 million households having some sort of AI home assistant, some form of literacy is needed for children and their families. Still, she said, in her research, sheâs found that children treat AI with less reverence the more they use and master it.
âAt first their reaction is, âItâs smarter than me,â but when they learn to use it, itâs not smart.â Druga said she wants to change the terminology from âartificial intelligenceâ to âextended intelligence.â
Ultimately, Druga said, âthe potential of AI in classrooms comes from the diversity of projects that kids can createâ â especially projects that allow for age-appropriate expression. One young student she worked with created a program that gave âback-handed complimentsâ such as âyour shoes look so good for being so cheap.â
âFor me,â Druga said, âitâs very telling that a ten-year-old wants to teach a robot to be bossy and cheeky.â
â Joe Levine
Speakers quotations may have been edited for clarity.
More from the AI Conference:
- âWe Can't Fix Education with Machines:â AI can do wonderful things, but it canât replace teachers and must promote equity
- âThe Future Will Be Nothing Short of Amazing:â For Hod Lipson, the promise of AI significantly outweighs the perils
- A Topic that Pushes Buttons: Sparks fly at TCâs conference on the future of artificial intelligence in education
- AI Can Disrupt Racial Inequity in Schools, or Make it Much Worse: When it comes to tech and education reform, thereâs been more talk than transformation