AI Is Transforming Education: Pros and Cons
Last updated on June 23rd, 2022 at 04:24 am
Artificial Intelligence has slowly integrated into most aspects of human life, including education. AI is transforming future classrooms from traditional to digital spaces. The change is in the way students now learn using smart devices. There are now advanced learning tools to complement the hardcopy textbooks. It is also evident in the shift from physical class attendance to virtual attendance. Getting your written assignment done is also much easier today with all the essay service options one has to choose from. AI also allows educational institutions to automate their administrative tasks. Therefore, making it easier for them to complete mundane tasks and focus on more important ones.
Studies show that by 2021, AI application in education and learning will go up by 47.5%. The growth and impact of technology will be evident across all levels of learning institutions. Yet, as technology changes education, this is not without its pros and cons. Thus this article will look at these pros and cons that have generated heated debates among education and tech experts.
The Pros of AI Transformation of Education:
Artificial intelligence has no doubt brought about positive changes in the education sector. As we’ll consider in the following advantages:
Simplifying Administrative Tasks
When it comes to teachers and school admin tasks, AI can automate such tasks. The ability to automate helps them spend less time responding to students, grading exams, and assessing homework. Technology can take care of these tasks. While educators channel their efforts towards teaching the students.
As we progress, more technology changes in education are happening with the development of new software. These tools will enhance better grading for multi-choice answer tests and written essays. As each paper is graded, the AI system adds it to its central database to compare with future essays. School admissions boards are also benefiting from AI’s ability to automate paperwork processing.
Providing Smart Content
Another advantage of AI in education is its ability to deliver content. Such content helps in supporting students to attain academic success. AI technology produces quality digital content, similar to traditional paper writing services. This technology is a core element in future classroom settings. Additionally, it enables the transfer of conventional syllabuses into digitized and customized textbooks.
These AI customized textbooks come with easy to comprehend content. For example, such mechanisms include virtual content such as videos or flashcards. It also summarizes chapters and provides practical tests. With an advanced AI learning interface, educators can create electronic curriculums and educative information. These can be accessed on multiple smart devices. These tools can provide audio, online assistance programs, and illustrative videos.
Personalized Learning
The attention is often focused on the curriculum and what the student learns. Yet, the way students learn is equally as important. Advancement in AI tech gives teachers a better understanding of how their students learn. It goes a step further to allow customization of the curriculum according to the student’s needs.
With AI personalization tools, the curriculum is designed to suit as many students as possible by targeting 80% of the middle. Thus, AI use increases the level of educational personalization that a single teacher with 20 to 100 students cannot achieve. It means that teachers can perform better by offering personalized recommendations to students.
When it comes to successful tutoring, instant feedback is one of the critical elements. Using AI apps and software, both the teacher and student can get targeted and customized responses. Teaching and learning modules can be developed to fit the student’s challenges in studying class materials.
Eradicating Language Barriers with AI Voice Assistant Technology
The issue of the language barrier is a huge one for most international students. Thankfully, voice assistive technology using automatic translation can ease international students’ language barriers. Materials are prepared in the language they are comfortable. It’s difficult to cope with without professional help. There are a lot of online services that provide writing papers for students. But students should prefer the high-quality professional writers from the best essay writing services for excellent results.
For students that decide to study in a foreign school, there are no barriers to AI. They can quickly get texts translated, and also audio and video materials for the lessons.
According to Juniper’s research, about 3.25 billion AI voice assistants are currently in use. The numbers are projected to grow by up to 8 billion personal voice assistants by 2023. With this breakthrough in AI assistive technology, VAs are useful in breaking language barriers. For example, Google’s assistant is currently compatible with 27 languages. And it is working on including more languages.
Empowering Persons with Special Needs
AI technology helps to augment the educational experience of persons with special needs. These advancements grant students with special needs an increased sense of autonomy. For example, students with visual and hearing impairments, mobility, and learning disabilities. AI assistive technologies like speech-to-text now replace older devices that can bring stigma to such students. Also, learning disabilities like dyslexia can be easily detected by teachers using AI.
Cons of AI Transformation of Education:
Although there are several groundbreaking benefits of AI in the classroom, there are a couple of drawbacks. We’ll consider some of these disadvantages:
Cost and Loss of information
Artificial intelligence does not usually come cheap. When combining installation, maintenance, and repair fees, it can be rather expensive. Therefore schools or students with minimal funds may not be able to benefit from AI fully. Only well-funded schools will find themselves in a position to enjoy such benefits. It could also pose a problem of widening the gap between the rich and less privileged.
Furthermore, AI works with data, and data is often at high risk of cyber theft or viruses. The loss of such vital data can be very detrimental to students and institutions.
Addiction
It can be a difficult task to implement digital ethics in a classroom. Educators and students are likely to become overly addicted to the use of technology. People find it very easy to turn to their tech devices for everything, whether its information or socializing. Thus, there’s’ the danger that students may become socially-unadapted tech-addicts in a few years.
Efficient Decision Making
It is not in doubt that AI technology is getting smarter by the day. It shows its ability to learn and teach other computers through automation and machine learning. Yet, experts debate whether AI can implement intuitive-based decisions in new situations that may arise in the classroom.
Lack of Motivation to Learn
Another debate on a possible AI con is if students can stay motivated enough to study without a teacher’s supervision. In every classroom, the teacher is the central figure of a student’s formative years. The student’s willingness to put in the effort to learn with or without the teacher’s guidance remains unclear.
Conclusion
As artificial intelligence advances in education, its benefits are glaring. From proving customized learning and automation of processes to breaking language and special needs barriers. Contrarily, there are a few disadvantages that AI advancement could bring to the future classroom.
Technology addiction, lack of motivation to learn, expense, and data loss are cons that will need urgent solutions. In all, AI technology development is more likely to serve as a support system in education than disrupting it.
