Artificial intelligence (AI) contains the possibility to drastically alter education, promoting a disruptive paradigm shift. One of the implications contained within is the capability to help make education more equitable for all learners. Currently learners may struggle with biases connected to their gender or race, as well as socio-economic and geographic factors, among other contending factors that can prove detrimental to their education. AI could help shore up the gaps and surmount barriers for learners, through the implementation of personalized learning and learning analytics, according to Roshanaei et al. (2023). Personalized learning systems could potentially provide an educational experience that responds to the learners’ individual learning needs and help improve outcomes: this could serve as a radical shift, especially for learners with different learning styles or those who require additional support.
Teachers would still retain a role in a future with artificial intelligence, with the capabilities of learning analytics applied to identify students who may require an intervention and receive assistance in a timely manner. Furthermore, AI could also help grade students’ work, allowing teachers more time to engage with their students on a more personalized basis. On an additional note, this could also help remove potential bias from the grading of students, promoting equity in the long run. However, it is important to ensure that human teachers remain a part of any education given, to provide both a critical assessment of the AI’s performance and capabilities, as well as a humanistic component of the learner’s experience.
Reference
Roshanaei, M., Olivares, H., & Lopez, R. R. (2023). Harnessing AI to Foster Equity in Education: Opportunities, Challenges, and Emerging Strategies. Journal of Intelligent Learning Systems and Applications, 15(04), 123-143.