Just a few years ago, the words ‘Artificial Intelligence‘ described something that seemed impossible. Today, AI has found its way into many different aspects of our lives. Everything from the smart assistant in your smartphone to self-driving cars uses artificial intelligence in one form or another. Even software programs like photo editors these days are powered by AI.
One specific field of life where AI is starting to show its benefits is education. Even though the idea of artificial intelligence in education may not seem very realistic, it may have a lot to do with the future of education.
In some forms, AI has already become a part of academics. For example, if you’ve ever used a plagiarism checker to check a paper for plagiarism, then you’d be happy to know that AI is now becoming a part of the process. This will enable these checkers, even the free ones, to check your essay more accurately and find possible issues that you may not be aware of otherwise.
Having AI in such a tool is just one of the many benefits of artificial intelligence in education. There are different ways AI is helping the process of learning be much more flexible than ever before. In the future, it is likely to cause a significant transformation of how we approach teaching and learning in our schools. Let’s see how automation in education goes beyond checking an essay via an online tool.
Personalized Learning
It is nearly impossible for a teacher to provide a personalized learning experience to all the students in a traditional school. Some students learn quicker than others, while others might be better in certain subjects. If a teacher starts to teach every student individually based on their capacity to learn, it will take years more for them to graduate.
This is where artificial intelligence in education comes in. With its help, certain learning platforms are being created that are adaptive in nature. These platforms help children learn based on their individual abilities, learning styles, and preferences.
Administrative Help
Students aren’t the only ones who are reaping the benefits of artificial intelligence. Teachers, too, can use AI to help them with administrative tasks such as sorting teaching materials, helping with paperwork, and even providing feedback to students. AI can also help teachers with grading their students’ tests.
For administrators of educational institutes, AI can help with various activities like managing the budget, procuring materials, and processing application forms. Using AI in these ways can change education institutes’ future by lowering their costs and providing them with a very clear understanding of how things are being run.
Custom Textbooks and Courses
In the near future, AI will replace thick textbooks with customized and online study guides to meet the students’ learning needs. Teachers will not have to go through piles of studies to find out the necessary information to teach their students and will be able to focus on just teaching. Automation in education will also help students learn much more efficiently as it will streamline the information presented in these new ‘digital textbooks.’
Another way artificial intelligence can improve the teaching process is by helping teachers develop courses in an adaptive way. AI will help a student with any problem that arises, in real-time, without having to rely on the teacher to help out. It will also provide support to the students and provide valuable feedback as they move along a course at their own pace. Alongside this, teachers will always know which student is at what stage of the course and whether someone needs help with a complicated issue.
Borderless Education
Making learning accessible for students worldwide is one of the most essential things that artificial intelligence can help with. At the moment, online classes are made possible via different services, but AI can improve those services and systems.
Education shouldn’t be bounded by borders, which is why the automation of education is so crucial. It shouldn’t matter if a student wants to study in Isreal or in Europe; they should have access to education from the comfort of their own home. While the tools to make this possible do exist already, AI can make them much more useful and flexible in the future.
The Future of AI in Learning
So, what does the future hold for AI in education? At the pace things are proceeding, artificial intelligence may not replace actual teachers, but it will indeed become a valuable tool for them to use. It will help teachers create courses and distribute them to the various students flexibly, based on their preferences and abilities. It will also help institutes run better from an administrative and logistical point of view.
