AI in education is one of the hottest debates of recent times. A lot of institutions around the globe look down on it. While others encourage it and say it is better to encourage the ethical use of AI rather than blacklist or ban it.
That’s why studies suggest that AI helped improved grades by around 30% in all of the students who reported using AI for assistance with studies. That’s why one source said that AI’s value at the end of 2021 was around 1.82 billion.
Whereas AI’s value by the end of 2022 was more than 4 billion. This indicates the growing use of AI in various industries—not just AI. But how does it impact education? What are the opportunities and implications of using AI? That is what we are here to find out, so let us dive right into it and get started.
1: Opportunities of AI in Education
AI is increasing in use every day—be it in industries or education. That’s why around 25% of businesses in all categories reported that they successfully invested in and used AI by the end of 2022. This indicates two main things about AI:
- Its use is increasing every day.
- Sooner or later, every institution and business will have to regulate it.
That means AI is not too far off from being an official element in studies instead of a backdoor technique to assist with studies. Out of all the educators interviewed, around 86% agree that technology, especially AI, is an important element in education.
Now this should tell you that the opportunities for AI in education will increase in the coming years. Be it an AI-based grading system, or AI-based content assistance, such as writing tools. We are going to see a rehaul of the way things work in education.
2: Implications for Education
Now there are some implications of AI for education—both good and bad. But that is quite true for every industry that might and will use AI in some capacity. A lot of people around the globe fear that AI will replace a lot of jobs.
Will that be any different for education? While you cannot replace a live human educator, AI education does have its benefits. For instance, it can ensure:
- At-your-pace education.
- 24/7 access to the students.
- And the use of AI to teach better.
But that does not mean it will not cause negative impacts, such as data privacy, job displacement, and the digital divide. In other words, it is not all sunshine and rainbows—as long as there is no regulation for the ethical use of AI.
Thus, higher education boards, ministries, or whoever regulates education on a regional or local level must regulate the use of AI with proper rules.
3: Reshaping Writing Assistance
AI’s assistance is not just for educational institutes or educators. Students are perhaps the ones who benefit the most from the use of AI-based tools. That is why AI is already reshaping how writing is done in education—and it will only increase from here on out.
That means AI technologies are transforming traditional writing methods by implementing various new tactics, such as:
- Using GPT-based chatbots to generate research and unique ideas instead of using Google.
- Instead of manual labor, use AI-based tools to assist with proofreading, i.e., grammar checking.
- Instead of outlining or creating writing treatments, use AI to create outlines.
- And instead of writing/rewriting manually, use tools to increase productivity.
One such example would be online paraphrasing, which lets students/writers rewrite without having to go through the manual hassle of it. That means a lot more efficiency in rewriting. With AI, students can change content tones or remove plagiarism at the click of a button.
Besides that, online paraphrasing plays another vital role in education, which is ensuring originality. That way, AI is going to become an even more important part of the educational writing process in the years to come.
4: Collaboration Between AI and Educators
Teachers will leverage AI tools if they are not already. Many different types of AI tools could benefit teachers in the long run, help them save a lot of time, and be more productive. For instance, AI can help teachers with:
- Checking for grammatical errors by finding and isolating issues.
- Checking for duplicity or confirming originality with the help of plagiarism finders.
- And the use of AI-based tools to assist with teaching practices.
Let us say a teacher has to lecture their class on a particular subject, and using AI-based tools to generate a script would save them a lot of time. And it will give them important points to talk about.
Then, they could use grammar checkers that use AI to find errors more efficiently—and in a mere few seconds. This way, AI and educators’ collaboration will only increase in the coming years. As a result, it will increase and encourage the chances of ethical use of AI and implement detailed rules.
5: Revert to Human-Centered Education
One of the biggest concerns related to AI in today’s world is its ethical use. Even if a student or a writer is using it ethically, there will always be questions surrounding it. That’s why, in 2020, around 80% of the organizations that use AI chartered and created strategies to ensure ethical use of AI.
Even UNESCO has set its guidelines for ensuring the proper use of AI in categories like education. Thus, it will revert to human-centered education with the help of AI—instead of blacklisting or outcasting it. It will happen by regulating a few things, such as:
- Nurturing critical thinking with the aid of AI in research, idea generation, etc.
- Promoting creativity and innovation with AI to help students stand out.
- And encouraging social-emotional skills with AI, such as problem-solving, empathy, etc.
Thus, the ethical use of AI will bring it full circle and allow both educators and students to use it without the fear of wrong repercussions.
Conclusion
These are some of the top-tier implications and opportunities of AI in the education era. The focus of AI will and should be on aiding the writer, educator, or student in ethical ways. Instead of replacing the human hand, it should be treated as an extension that can help it be more effective, efficient, and time-saving.
