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The era of publicly accessible generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) began in late 2022, and shortly after that, its effect on education was already being reported in mainstream media. Today, just a few months after the launch of these AI tools, tens of millions of users are using them daily. This exponential growth of AI tools likely means that AI will be with us going forward. Selwyn (2010) encourages ed tech researchers to consider how modern technologies, such as AI, affect the realities of today through the lenses of ethics, inclusion, and social interactions. As Selwyn suggests, our group hopes to look at AI as it is affecting education presently, focusing more on the social effects of AI rather than hopeful future predictions. Through research, our team aims to answer questions about AI and education regarding social risks, government policies, ethics, accessibility and inclusivity, and the effect on workplace learning.
“Drawing from the insights gained at AI WIPS, our team delved deeper into AI in education.”
The topic of AI and the team’s areas of interest led our team to a recently held online virtual conference on AI by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The conference, titled “International Conference on AI in Work, Innovation, Productivity and Skills,” (AI WIPS) (OECD, 2023) took place in March of 2023. The conference covered AI-related topics such as the risks of AI, government policy, ethics, diversity and inclusion, education, and AI’s effect on the workplace. These topics aligned with the team’s areas of interest in AI. Drawing from the insights gained at AI WIPS, our team delved deeper into AI in education. To better understand the implications of AI in education, we explored a variety of resources that provided valuable perspectives and information.
Just as AI has expanded into many industries, cultures, and borders, so too, did our team expand our scope in searching for credible resources that provided insights, forecasts, and hypotheses on AI technology. With any flourishing trend, less-than-credible sources have joined the conversation. To determine which resources to trust and which ones to discard, each of us applied a critical, analytical, and questioning lens which we have acquired throughout our MALAT journey. In our search for resources to include, our team relied on resources that are evidence based, from trusted sources such as academic journals; Beyond traditional journals, the team found credible resources in our learning event, the AI WIPS conference, these included: education podcasts, blog posts by leaders in education and technology,, ed tech and technology presentations, interviews, and a European draft policy recommendations regarding AI.
Areas of Inquiry
Areas of interest and questions we are exploring around AI include the nature of the tool’s education professionals are using in learning, and how they affect the pedagogical approaches taken; how will it transform the work learners are doing, how learners demonstrate their knowledge, and how teachers evaluate acquisition and retention of knowledge in meaningful and authentic ways in an AI powered world. Further to that question, if generative AI can write (and pass) examinations, how will that impact the value (both real and perceived) of the credentials we currently use to establish credibility and proof of skill? What policies, procedures, and governance may be needed to ensure development of safe, ethical, and trustworthy AI? Who are the stakeholders that need to be invited to those discussions, and what governing bodies need to be involved? Lastly, what digital literacy skills or tools do we need to develop to help ensure that end users can use these AI tools effectively while being aware of bias, misinformation, and inequities that may be designed into these systems?
AI is a significant technology that stands to change the way we write, do business, develop products, and learn. After examining AI through our learning event (AI WIPS), we gained insight into the impact generative AI tools are having on education, workplaces, people with disabilities, and policymakers. Policies, procedures, and processes will need to be in place to support the changes that AI will bring to organizations, educational institutes, learners, and society. As AI improves, so may our opinions on the use of AI tools. These technologies have the potential to transform (and disrupt) our daily lives in different ways; because of this, we must continue to examine new information on AI and its effects on not just education, but society at large. We invite others to research and understand AI as well. The more research is conducted, and the more educators use AI and share their experiences, the more all of us can learn about how best to leverage these AI tools to improve the ability to teach and learn for both educators and students.
AI Disclosure:
Human Draft (with an AI assisted transition sentence) → Grammarly → ChatGPT → Human Revisions
References
The following list represents our initial starting points for examination of contemporary issues around AI in learning:
Baidoo-Anu, D., & Owusu Ansah, L. (2023). Education in the era of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI): Understanding the potential benefits of ChatGPT in promoting teaching and learning. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4337484.
Deshpande, Advait and Sharp, Helen (2022). Responsible AI Systems: Who are the Stakeholders? In: AIES ’22: Proceedings of the 2022 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society, ACM (pp. 227–236). DOI: http://oro.open.ac.uk/84505/1/84505VOR.pdf
Bessen, J., Pilat, D. (2022, February 21-25). Conversation with Jim Bessen on AI, Innovation, Productivity, and Work. [Conference session]. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development annual conference, online. https://www.oecd-events.org/2022-ai-wips/onlinesession/ff7a3a8d-bc7a-ec11-94f6-a04a5e7d3e1c
Eaton, S. (2023, February 25). 6 Tenets of Postplagiarism: Writing in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Learning, Teaching and Leadership. https://drsaraheaton.wordpress.com/2023/02/25/6-tenets-of-postplagiarism-writing-in-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence/
Ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI. (2019, April 8). European Union. https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/ethics-guidelines-trustworthy-ai
Haleem, A., Javaid, M., & Singh, R. P. (2022). An era of ChatGPT as a significant futuristic support tool: A study on features, abilities, and challenges. BenchCouncil transactions on benchmarks, standards and evaluations, 2(4), 100089.
Harris, T., & Raskin, A. (2023, March 9). The A.I. dilemma. Center for Humane Technology [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoVJKj8lcNQ
Heaven, W. D. (2023, April 6). ChatGPT is going to change education, not destroy it. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/04/06/1071059/chatgpt-change-not-destroy-education-openai/
High-level expert group on artificial intelligence. Shaping Europe’s digital future. (n.d.). https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/expert-group-ai
Nguyen, G. (2023, February 22). Digital pedagogy toolbox: Let’s make friends with ChatGPT. BCcampus. https://bccampus.ca/2023/02/22/digital-pedagogy-toolbox-lets-make-friends-with-chatgpt/
OECD. (2023). Artificial intelligence in work, innovation, productivity and skills conference 2023. https://www.oecd-events.org/ai-wips-2023
Ulanoff, L. (2023, April 12). ChatGPT is now writing college essays, and higher ed has a big problem. TechRadar. https://www.techradar.com/news/i-had-chatgpt-write-my-college-essay-and-now-im-ready-to-go-back-to-school-and-do-nothing
There are some very relevant and thought-provoking questions that your team wants to research with AI; thank you!
As a high school English and Social Studies teacher, AI was brought up during our most recent staff meeting, particularly what we (as teachers) will do with it. Some great discussions about assessment, boundaries, and ethics arose; I was particularly interested in the assessment issue. Your team post stated, “…how will that [AI passing exams] impact the value (both real and perceived) of the credentials we currently use to establish credibility and proof of skill? “. This is a question I hope you explore in more detail. Do you see a fundamental shift regarding assessment in the future of education? Or will it be a ‘back to basics’ approach?
I look forward to viewing your presentation about this!
Thanks, Terry!
The assessment question is definitely one that has been sticking with me since we started using some of these tools. Is the essay dead? It might be. In one of my programs, we started last year (before generative AI exploded) to do “exit interviews” where students answer a set of questions (randomly selected from a larger set they are given ahead of time) live, over a Zoom or Teams call. The questions are meant to be reflective, and not a test of knowledge, but a test of what (and how) they have learned. It’s a small step in the direction of authentic assessment, but it’s giving us some insight.
This is definitely an area I will be investigating in the coming weeks, as I feel this is going to be one of the massive changes we will see as a result of these new tools. And educators (and researchers) have been pushing the concept of authentic assessment for some time, but as we all know, the world of learning is a really big ship that’s slow to turn, and generative AI has perhaps given it the biggest push in a new direction that we have seen in generations.
Team 1, it looks like you’re off to a good start on your collective study of AI in digital learning, with a focus on practice and ethics in particular setting you up for a critical inquiry. One suggestion: since the topic of your learning experience is not the only focus of this assignment, you may wish to look more at OECD and also turn some questions toward the conference itself – i.e. what’s its purpose, who are the participants and/or sponsors, etc. On a side note, UNESCO has recently produced a fairly comprehensive document on Chat GPT in higher education that you might find informative: https://www.iesalc.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ChatGPT-and-Artificial-Intelligence-in-higher-education-Quick-Start-guide_EN_FINAL.pdf
I look forward to seeing how your team and individual studies develop!
Hi Team One,
I enjoyed reading your blog about the impact of generative AI on education! I appreciate the emphasis on ethical and inclusive considerations and your critical question on equitable access to AI tools. I look forward to seeing how your research will explore the nature of AI tools used in education and their impact on learners and teachers.
🙂 Michal