How to use AI in education has become one of the main challenges to be faced in this field. This forces teachers to change the way they teach and evaluate. Priya Lakhani, advisor to the UK Government on implementing AI in schools and founder of “Century”, an education technology initiative implemented in 65 countries, provides some keys to how to deal with these changes. He has been one of the keynote speakers at the education and technology conference EnlightED 2023, promoted by Fundación Telefónica, South Summit, IE University and “la Caixa” Foundation.

To what extent can AI improve a country’s education system?

To the extent that AI can ensure no student is left behind. When it can be personalized for each student. We often ask ourselves who is the most important person in class, and everyone answers that it is the students. But who is the most powerful? Teacher. So, we have to untie their hands. AI is also a tool and we must not forget that AI is based on data that can provide all the necessary knowledge to empower humans.

How will AI change or has already changed education?

AI is the arrival of education, and has been for years. I say this because at Century we have provided AI to schools in 62 countries and we have done so for many years. This is classic non-generative AI that everyone is well aware of today. But this is AI that uses machine learning technology to look for patterns in data and then tries to predict the likelihood of a particular case. So, we predict whether students will answer the question correctly or not, and also why. Then we intervened.

Can you give an example?

Suppose a student is having difficulty in Physics and the reason is that he does not know how to calculate mathematical equations. What we do is give you the math to overcome difficulties with physics. Teachers, when they see this, will immediately realize that this will be useful in the classroom. And they’ll think “this will tell me what’s really going on in class without me having to correct and evaluate.”

So there’s no need to do a test?

Teachers spend more than 50% of their time marking and grading, trying to figure out when students are making progress. I always say they are teachers by day and data analysts by night. We waste a lot of time. AI exists, it exists. And also, in the last year we’ve seen the emergence of technologies based on large language models, such as ChatGPT, so that now many people on social media are saying “that’s how we use it in the classroom”. This is great, because all these people are encouraging other teachers to embrace these new tools, learn to use them, and become more efficient.

But it is also very worrying if students use it…

Of course. We worry about what they will use it for or whether they will use it to practice their critical thinking or just to copy homework. With the introduction of this technology, perhaps the exam will have to change? Or actually, shouldn’t they change? The adoption of generative AI is still in its infancy. This is a growing field. However, there are teachers who have started implementing it in the classroom. It will be interesting to see how far it is implemented. If they decide that, in the future, when students take exams or selective assessment systems, the use of this technology is not allowed, then teachers must ensure that the knowledge is in their brains and does not just come from their brains. machine. Therefore, they have to face this challenge. Honestly, I think this situation scares them a little because it’s a new problem to deal with. And we must not forget that teachers are very busy. They barely have any free time to sit down and investigate these questions.

So how can we measure students’ actual performance and effort?

I support conducting comprehensive reviews of evaluation systems in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and even Spain. Because I don’t think a selective evaluation at the end of a particular cycle, where a student’s entire opportunity is determined within a period of about ten days, should be too decisive for their educational future. Now, since this technology emerged, there is a greater need to conduct selective exams. We have to look deeper at what we are evaluating, what skills we are evaluating, and how we can use technology to improve these specific skills.

And outside of exams?

For example, when a student asks a particularly interesting discussion question, we can tell him or her to use technology and ask the question. Next, we will provide critical comments on the responses obtained, right? It’s not just about getting answers from technology. It’s also about being able to analyze it critically. The most important skill we impart to students today is critical thinking. We know a third of people will consume news via social media. How can we know what to believe? It is important to equip students with skills that enable them to assess the information they consume. In fact, these tools can be used to help develop these skills. The problem is not technology, but the changes it brings to the way teaching is done.

And how should teachers prepare for this new era?

That’s the question! They don’t have time. In the afternoon they proofread and on the weekend they prepare the class. But if you want to get them to spend more time thinking about new technology, you need to eliminate some of the tasks assigned to them. They should be given examples that encourage them to apply these tools and teach them how to do it. We must remember that teaching is a personal activity like learning. There are several different methods and teachers should be given the space to analyze them, digest the information and then think about how to apply them and test them and observe what effects they produce.