The introduction of AI technology and its easy accessibility to children has caused many to question how we can maintain the integrity of their education”
We’ve all seen the films:; robots, computers, even hard drives becoming sentient and taking over the world. Now while that might all be science –fiction, the world of today has had to get used to the exponential growth of artificial intelligence. And there’s no getting around it: AI is here to stay. Its rapidly evolving capabilities have been placed at the forefront of discussions for businesses around the world, so it’s no surprise that the heavily regulated education sector is bracing itself for some big potential changes. The introduction of AI technology and its easy accessibility to children has caused many to question how we can maintain the integrity of their education, and even whether AI will one day replace the need for certain industries altogether.
Frank Milner, Global President of Tutor Doctor, discusses how AI and ChatGPT can actually be used to augment and enrich learning, and provide children, tutors and parents with new tools to help to set them up for success in the future.
ChatGPT, in its own words, is an artificial intelligence language model designed to generate human-like text based on the input it is given. It can answer questions, write essays, summarise text, translate languages, and even create poetry or write a story. However, the key here is the ‘human-like’ element:; ChatGPT is unable to form beliefs or opinions, or to have emotions or even consciousness, so it still requires human input in order to be used effectively.
While there is an understandable concern that ChatGPT can cause children to become lazier or less original, and potentially impact their learning, there are also many benefits to using AI in the classroom to engage pupils, as long as the use is monitored and demonstrated well by educators. If ChatGPT is incorporated into lesson plans, children can see how to effectively use ChatGPT to enhance and strengthen their education as opposed to using it as a quick and easy, full solution.
Here at Tutor Doctor, we believe the impact of ChatGPT on education will depend on how it is implemented and used. Not allowing any use of AI will often have the opposite intended effect; pupils will turn to it and use it for its most basic functions, without taking the time to learn how it can supplement their work as opposed to giving them an easy way out. While it has the potential to improve the learning experience, it is important to consider both the positive and negative effects to ensure that it is being used in a way that supports learning and development and doesn’t hinder or replace it.
How can ChatGPT positively affect learning for children?
- Increased engagement: ChatGPT can help children engage with learning material in new ways.
Example: a chatbot can ask questions and provide feedback, which can help childrenthen to stay engaged and motivated.
- Improved accessibility: ChatGPT can help make education more accessible to children with disabilities.
Example: a chatbot can provide text-to-speech capabilities for students who have difficulty reading, or it can translate text into language they may be more comfortable working with.
- Personalised learning: ChatGPT can help personalise the learning experience for children.
Example: a chatbot can recommend resources or provide feedback based on a child’s interests and learning style. Children can tailor questions to their interests and even ask follow-up questions so ChatGPT will delve deeper into that interest.
- Enhanced creativity: Chat
Example: a chatbot can suggest new topics to explore or offer creative prompts. It can help to spark their creativity and keep them engaged when learning writing skills. Try getting ChatGPT to give your child a prompt to write a story or a poem, and then work together to write it.
- Fast access to information: ChatGPT provides a wide range of topics in real time. Think of it as a more in-depth G
google search. With a quick search through its database, ChatGPT allows teachers to have a well of information at their fingertips.
Example: if children have questions, we may not know the answers to, ChatGPT can allow us to provide the answer quickly, provided we fact-check thoroughly.
- Easy quizzing: we know that children are inquisitive and love to ask questions, but sometimes coming up with the answers can be time-consuming. Testing their knowledge and keeping them entertained isn’t an easy combination, but ChatGPT can create fun quizzes for children of any age.
Example: ChatGPT can quickly create fun quizzes and puzzles to keep children occupied and keep them learning, saving teachers and parents lots of time. It aAlso allows for independent study, should an older student want to use this technology when revising for exams.
- Future-proofing: AI will be around for a while and will only become more prevalent, so setting children up with the knowledge of how to properly use it will be beneficial in the long run.
Example: create a lesson plan asking children to create prompts for ChatGPT (silly or serious!) and get them to read out and evaluate the results as this will teach them to be clear, concise, and specific when using AI.
What are the potential negative effects of AI in the classroom?
As with any new technology, there are going to be drawbacks, or ways in which the technology can be exploited to allow people a quick, easy solution. This doesn’t mean the technology shouldn’t be used, however; there are ways to mitigate the negative effects this kind of technology can have.
- Academic dishonesty and lack of original thought: there’s no shying away from the fact that AI is an easy way to avoid work or to cheat, which can negatively impact academic performance and undermine the learning process. This is one of the most significant concerns surrounding ChatGPT, and plagiarism checkers are scrambling to catch up with such modern technology.
Solution: teach children the correct way to use AI to enhance education, and regularly check for plagiarism in work. Monitor ChatGPT usage and encourage parents to do the same.
- Over-reliance on technology: if children rely too heavily on AI, they may not develop critical thinking skills or the ability to work through problems on their own. This can lead to difficulties in other areas of their academic and personal lives.
Solution: encourage limited usage of ChatGPT. Include it in the syllabus, but stress that it is only to be used in the way teachers demonstrate, and ensure parents do the same.
- Privacy concerns: Chat
Solution: monitor usage of ChatGPT regularly and educate children on internet safety and privacy.
- Unequal access: if some children do not have access to the technology required to use Chat
Solution: if possible, only use ChatGPT on education devices, and do not encourage its use at home.
- Accuracy limitations: ChatGPT is not 100% accurate because its data is pulled from the internet, and it stopped learning new information in September 2021. The technology is intelligent but not fully human, meaning it can misunderstand context leading to incorrect outputs.
Solution: use the accuracy limitations as an educational opportunity. Prepare an exercise where children have to fact-check outputs against their own research and show them the inaccuracies which arise. This Ccan be a very fun and silly exercise to do!
- Loss of writing skills: if children rely too heavily on ChatGPT, they may not develop the skills and abilities necessary to write creatively and effectively. They may struggle to craft original ideas or arguments and may rely on the chatbot to do the work for them.
Solution: show children how effective ChatGPT is to at enhancinge ideas and encourageing creativity, but also show the limitations and the consequences of relying on ChatGPT.
“ChatGPT is a powerful tool to help get our brains thinking outside the box and open ourselves up to new ideas,” says Frank. “It’s highly important for teachers to encourage the use of these new technologies, as it looks like they’re only going to keep growing, but it’s equally important to ensure children don’t become reliant on them. Using ChatGPT in the classroom in the right way can aid problem-solving skills and set children up with exceptionally useful tools, provided teachers and parents are demonstrating how to use it properly and effectively. We must explore teaching critical thinking and critical literacy within the context of technology, understanding how to evaluate online sources, and understanding how algorithms create bias echo chambers, where biased views are reinforced and echoed back and forth with little to no differing perspectives.
“There is no getting away from the understandable concerns around AI replacing the need for humans in certain roles;, however, in my opinion, this is not something we need to worry about when considering education. Human interaction is irreplaceable, and though AI is advancing rapidly, it can never add more value to a child’s education than a human teacher can.”
For more information, visit tutordoctor.co.uk
