Intelligence Unleashed
Experts make the case for harnessing AI to achieve education reform.
A new paper by Pearson, in collaboration with the UCL Knowledge Lab, makes
the case for why we must take artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) more
seriously, and how we can begin to do so. Although some might find the concept of
AIEd slightly unnerving, the authors do not see a future in which AIEd replaces
teachers. Instead, they see a future in which the extraordinary expertise of
teachers is better leveraged and augmented through the thoughtful deployment of
well-designed AIEd tools.
Sir Michael Barber, Pearson's Chief Education Adviser has said, “There is no
doubt that AI will significantly influence what we teach and learn, as well as how
we do it. The challenge is to ensure that it truly supports teachers, learners, and
their parents. Many important decisions will need to be made as these technologies
develop, mature, and scale; this paper offers some concrete options that will allow
us to realize the potential of AIEd at the system level.”
We wrote this short paper on artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) with two
aims in mind. The first was to explain to a non-specialist, interested reader what
AIEd is: its goals, how it is built, and how it works. After all, only by securing
a certain degree of understanding can we move beyond the science-fiction imagery of
AI, and the associated fears. The second aim was to set out the argument for what
AIEd can offer learning, both now and in the future, with an eye towards improving
learning and life outcomes for all.
Throughout, our approach has been to start with teaching and learning – and then
describe how well designed and thoughtful AIEd can usefully contribute. Crucially
we do not see a future in which AIEd replaces teachers. What we do see is a future
in which the role of the teacher continues to evolve and is eventually transformed;
one where their time is used more effectively and efficiently, and where their
expertise is better deployed, leveraged, and augmented.
Although some might find the concept of AIEd alienating, the algorithms and models
that comprise AIEd form the basis of an essentially human endeavour. AIEd offers
the possibility of learning that is more personalised, flexible, inclusive, and
engaging. It can provide teachers and learners with the tools that allow us to
respond not only to what is being learnt, but also to how it is being learnt, and
how the student feels. It can help learners develop the knowledge and skills that
employers are seeking, and it can help teachers create more sophisticated learning
environments than would otherwise be possible. For example, AIEd that can enable
collaborative learning, a difficult task for one teacher to do alone, by making
sure that the right group is formed for the task-at-hand, or by providing targeted
support at just the right time.
We look towards a future when extraordinary AIEd tools will support teachers in
meeting the needs of all learners. Drawing on the power of both human and
artificial intelligence, we will lessen achievement gaps, address teacher retention
and development, and equip parents to better support their children’s (and their
own) learning. Importantly, doing this will require much more than borrowing the
language of AI – we need to go deep, harnessing the power of genuine AIEd, and then
working to apply it in real-life contexts at scale.
True progress will require the development of an AIEd infrastructure. This will
not, however, be a single monolithic AIEd system. Instead, it will resemble the
marketplace that has developed for smartphone apps: hundreds and then thousands of
individual AIEd components, developed in collaboration with educators, conformed to
uniform international data standards, and shared with researchers and developers
worldwide. These standards will enable system-level data collation and analysis
that help us learn much more about learning itself and how to improve it.
If we are ultimately successful, AIEd will also contribute a proportionate response
to the most significant social challenge that AI has already brought – the steady
replacement of jobs and occupations with clever algorithms and robots. It is our
view that this phenomena provides a new innovation imperative in education, which
can be expressed simply: as humans live and work alongside increasingly smart
machines, our education systems will need to achieve at levels that none have
managed to date.
Our response, we argue, should be to take on the role of metaphorical judo masters.
That is, we should harness the power and strength of AI itself. In that way we can
help teachers to equip learners – whatever their age – with the knowledge and
flexible skills that will allow them to unleash their human intelligence and thrive
in this re-shaped workforce.
To be candid, the impetus for this paper arose from our impatience with the status
quo. Despite nearly three decades of work, AIEd is in many ways still a cottage
industry, and the benefits and enormous potential of the field remain mostly
unrealised. Sadly, many of the best ideas in AIEd currently make it no further than
the lab, or perhaps a lecture hall. AIEd is hampered by a funding system that
encourages siloed research, and that shies away from dealing with the essential
messiness of education contexts. We believe this needs to change.
This is our attempt at contributing to that change, through explaining, arguing,
and putting forward some evocative, and perhaps provocative, views of the future.
It is our hope that this paper will provide a deeper understanding of AIEd, and
stimulate a much-needed debate.
Let us start by introducing AI.