AI in Education

In an era marked by rapid technological advancements, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force across many sectors. Among the many fields where AI is leaving an indelible mark, education stands out as one of the most promising yet challenging frontiers.

AI aims to revolutionize teaching and learning practices and will contribute significantly to rapid progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4, which focuses on providing inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities.

AI will act as a “social resource amplifier” to provide students with a more personalized and efficient educational journey, facilitating social development. AI has the potential to address some of the biggest challenges in education today and is poised to revolutionize the education sector.

UNESCO is committed to helping Member States harness the potential of AI to achieve the 2030 Education Agenda, which promises “AI for All”. In its report “Artificial Intelligence and Education: Guidance for Policymakers”, UNESCO aims to shift the conversation to include the role of AI in addressing current inequalities in access to knowledge and research. It emphasizes ensuring that AI does not widen the technology gap within and between countries. The publication also asserts that the deployment of AI technologies in education should enhance human capabilities, protect human rights and promote effective human-machine collaboration in learning and working for sustainable development.

According to UNESCO's Education 2030 Agenda, AI in education is aligned with a comprehensive approach with government involvement. It emphasizes the importance of machine-human collaboration while recognizing the impact of data in policy formulation and emphasizing privacy and security of AI tools. It takes into account the integration of AI-related skills into school curricula and embedding ethical considerations, especially in technical and vocational education. It places emphasis on quality education regardless of students' educational background, while supporting trainees with learning disabilities and disabilities. UNESCO's agenda also advocates the integration of AI skills into the Information and Communications Technology Competency Framework, which provides support to countries in training the trainers.

Critics of AI in education raise concerns about the potential dehumanization of the educational process, data privacy and bias in AI-driven tools, as well as the ethical issues and reliability of research generated by AI. These concerns need to be acknowledged and mitigated if the use of AI in education is to be ethical, responsible, and effective.

It is pertinent to compare the different approaches adopted by Pakistan's neighbors, China and India. Though both countries are at the forefront of AI adoption, their approaches differ, demonstrating AI's adaptability to diverse educational environments. China has embraced AI in the education sector with AI-powered classrooms at the core of facial recognition and curriculum transformation, demonstrating the transformative potential of AI in the country's education development.

Incorporating AI into the education of young students is seen as a pioneering solution for the country to cultivate future AI talent. As early as 2017, China's State Council issued the “New Generation Artificial Intelligence Technology Development Plan,” proposing to popularize AI science, implement national intelligence education projects, set up AI-related courses in primary and secondary schools, and gradually promote programming education. In China's Guangzhou province, authorities are including AI in the annual curriculum starting in September 2023. China plans to merge humans and AI through neuromorphic computing.

Meanwhile, India is embracing AI through adaptive learning platforms, personalized courses, and intelligent tutoring systems. In 2015, in Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh, the government collected and analyzed student data through an AI-based application to discover predictive patterns of students who were likely to drop out. The data revealed that thousands of students were likely to drop out of school in the 2018-2019 academic year. Such experiments prove the potential of AI to streamline the education system and act as a catalyst in helping educational institutions make better decisions. In 2022, three Indian schools in Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Pune incorporated AI into classroom activities by deploying 21 highly interactive “Eagle Robots” that assist teachers, teach in 30 different languages, and provide automated assessments.

In recent years, Pakistan has made great strides in AI education through its President's Initiative on Artificial Intelligence and Computing (PIAIC), which is training a new generation of AI practitioners. Pakistan has developed a draft National AI Policy with four pillars: (i) Enabling an AI market; (ii) Enabling AI through awareness and readiness; (iii) Building a progressive and trustworthy environment; and (iv) Transforming and evolving.

The document also aims to stimulate the progressive impact of AI on society from the grassroots, while emphasizing basic understanding and awareness of privacy and AI. As such, the policy gives equal importance to the teaching of algorithms, data science, and AI in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Policy proposals also include the establishment of a STEM education expert working committee to review the draft national high-tech curriculum.

To successfully leverage AI in education, it is important to emphasize collaboration between educators, policymakers, and AI developers. The potential for AI to revolutionize education is limitless. To maximize the application of AI in education, a “train-the-trainer” program combined with the necessary infrastructure is essential.

At the 2003 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Summit, it was stated that ICT will bring about fundamental changes in all aspects of our lives, including knowledge. AI is now doing the same. Silicon Valley is the epicenter of AI development, with numerous national academic institutions such as MIT.

In Germany, institutes such as the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems have been at the forefront of AI research. To encourage and harmonize AI education and training in Pakistan, priority should be given to establishing AI higher education institutions at both the federal and provincial levels. Thus, the government could consider establishing an AI city in Islamabad and an AI university at the provincial level. We must catch up with other countries.

The author is a research fellow at the Center for International Relations.

Strategic Studies, Sindh.