The progress of technology and industry in the niches of artificial intelligence and machine learning in education has begun reshaping perspectives on how society views and regards academics. However, teaching is a key profession that is likely to remain relatively untouched by automation due to its innately human nature and requirements. Education has been a central human development indicator in the modern world and any changes to methodology in this regard are bound to have far-reaching implications. The world still witnesses substantial rates of inequality, and this is no different when it comes to education and learning. Educational resources remain distributed disproportionately and populations higher up on the socioeconomic ladder retain an advantage over their less fortunate counterparts. While this persists as a continuing concern for policymakers, the arrival of ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence interfaces has further complicated this problem by introducing a new factor of variability.
As the world witnesses the rise of global rivalries in the creation and proliferation of AI tech, studies surrounding these developments’ impact on education have so far remained limited. Along with the rise of artificial intelligence, problems such as AI bias and security concerns have also come to the fore, further introducing elements of dubiety in an already extant problem of educational inequity. As academics, regulators, and think tanks formulate their response, the risk of disadvantaged regions and groups losing out on crucial technological refurbishment grows ever larger. However, AI disciplines such as big data and analytics also hold the potential to enhance the implementation of technology and pointed learning in all communities. The below sections discuss how artificial intelligence and machine learning will be key determinants of educational equity in the long run.
Democratized AI and the Potential for Educational Equality
AI can bring about several solutions to address present challenges in bringing parity to education.
Artificial intelligence brings immense potential for revamping education as we know it today. AI and ML-supported adaptive learning technologies serve to personalize education for each student based on their unique learning needs, helping academia provide a nuanced approach. Personalization can be utilized to attune content, delivery, and even testing methods to suit varied groups of students and their innately different abilities when it comes to adopting educational methodologies. Regardless of their background or identity, AI is capable of providing a nuanced and uninterrupted learning experience full of rich resources and support material. AI-generated content and other intelligent software can remove barriers for students facing accessibility issues. Speech recognition and read-aloud assistive technologies go a long way in making content accessible to students with disabilities. Technological inequality can also be addressed through AI-supported translators that help students learn language through AI or translate up-to-date material to their native tongues to make the latest information accessible regardless of language barriers.
Technologies like AI tutors and intelligent learning solutions make data-driven decisions that remain unbiased and remove the element of human error in assessments. Such tools also identify key trends and patterns emerging in student sample sizes that are otherwise unknown to their human teachers. Incorporating these technological advances into modern, democratized AI solutions will help every section of the student community receive an equal portion of humanity’s successes in driving forth learning. Such an attempt will also reinforce the role of AI in education as a balancing factor that allows every student to have access to equal opportunities from a pool of equitable resources. Applying these concepts in educational niches such as STEM can also have far-reaching effects on local and regional economies, allowing students to upskill and create employment opportunities for themselves and others from their localities. If employed effectively, the democratization of AI can revolutionize education for future generations.
AI and Challenges to Educational Equity: Addressing AI Bias and Risks
There still remain several outstanding barriers to implementing AI in education.
Despite the potential for AI and ML to bring about educational equality, there exist several challenges and concerns. Among the main barriers is the limitation of algorithmic decision-making, which stems from the extent of an AI’s training data. Human biases alongside the breadth of the information contained within these data sets can restrict the degree to which an AI can make accurate decisions and might constrict its worldview. This often leads to a phenomenon called AI hallucination, which arises from the system’s attempts to extrapolate information from existing data points it can refer to. Since artificial intelligence systems lack the ability for intuition, they’re incapable of making accurate estimations on matters that lay outside of their knowledge models. Future concepts like artificial general intelligence might be able to address these problems and eliminate the problematic element of bias. Without the ability to detect bias in AI content, establishing equality and transparency in AI alongside eliminating technological inequality will only remain a pipedream.
Other concerns such as the protection of student and teacher privacy along with securing AI systems will also be crucial in making AI a core element of education across the board. Technological disparities that pervade global society must not be ignored either. Not all students have access to advanced technologies that support the operation of AI tools. Bridging the digital divide will remain quintessential in eliminating technological inequality and in establishing an easily accessible AI protocol. Regulatory measures must be tailored to address AI’s implementation and the challenges to successfully bringing these technologies to aid disadvantaged students.
Why Equity and Equality Will Remain Important to the Role of AI in Education
Democratizing AI technologies might ensure fair access to students from all walks of life.
Educational equity remains a core ideal for lawmakers and global organizations. It ensures that students regardless of their background receive access to high-quality learning opportunities. The arrival of AI and ML in education signals the potential for improvement in educational equity while also posing several challenges. Navigating these rather turbulent waters will require clear ideation on the part of governments, thinkers, and technical professionals. The creation of responsible AI will have to factor in the element of democratized artificial intelligence as well as equal educational opportunities for students across varied socioeconomic spectra. As steady numbers of chatbots and conversational artificial intelligence interfaces make their way to the market, policies must be adapted to ensure these technologies are not restricted to a select few.