When we think about Artificial intelligence, there’s a sense of apprehension. We imagine a dystopian world and it feels as though technology might over take us and dominate our lives. As scary as this may sound, the outcome always depends on how the technology is being used in a non-invasive manner.
Students would have heard their science tutors and math tutors share interesting insights about the rise of Artificial intelligence. These fun facts eventually encourage students to even venture into these fields and explore.
Technology is developing gradually and needless to say, with the pandemic, online education has certainly taken precedence. Slowly everything is being transferred onto the digital platform and everyone are forced to roll with the punches. The possibilities of development in technology have been discussed ad nauseum but in the upcoming years, we may actually see it take a form in front of our eyes.
So, how is Artificial Intelligence (AI) going to change education?
FOCUSING ON A NICHE
There’s plenty of research ongoing on Artificial intelligence and Clemson university is one of them. The Artificial Intelligence Research Institute for Science and Engineering (AIRISE) promotes research in Artificial Intelligence. It further focuses on ways that education can be optimised and workforce can be developed.
The ultimate aim is to prepare everyone for a technology-dependant world which is in the near future.
There are ideas of giving suggestions to tutors for them to focus on specific areas of teaching. A recommender system that suggests specific areas that teachers can focus on to develop based on the way they have answered in the survey. Algorithms have the ability process data and customise options based on people’s needs. This approach hopes to refine many things in future.
CHANGE IN GLOBAL CHALLENGES
The world’s challenges in the past includes some of the iconic historical events such as the Great Depression, subprime mortgage crisis, and World War II. Today, for the most part, we have evolved to a great extent and our problems have taken a new dimension. One of the biggest global challenge for countries is to remain competitive.
There is constant effort put into research and development and countries are progressing gradually. Artificial intelligence is capable of backing up a country’s economy and national security in many ways. Thus, courses are being designed to expose students to new dimensions of science and technology, engineering disciplines and cutting-edge research.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
There is general awareness that Artificial intelligence revolves around complex algorithms, data and machines. But many are unaware of the subtypes and specialisations within Artificial intelligence.
Research focuses on areas such as,
- High-tech Manufacturing
- Biomedical Data Science & Informatics
- Material Science
- Cyberinfrastructure
- Advanced Transportation
Some of the subfields include,
- Machine learning:
- This requires knowledge on statistics, research methodology and physics for advanced interpretation of data
- Cognitive computing:
- This makes human and machine interaction to be more organic and natural.
- This aims to give machines human-like qualities like image and speech interpretation.
- Natural language processing (NLP):
- This enables machines to analyse and interpret human language.
- It is aimed at making our lives more convenient in many ways.
MONITORING
There are general ethical concerns related to Artificial intelligence. Critics challenge this concept with the argument that it could possibly invade our privacy. Claims such as infringement on freedom of speech and close monitoring of students seems to put off some people from Artificial intelligence.
However, like everything else, if used to our advantage in a righteous manner, there is no room for problems. Checks and balances have to be present to ensure the adverse effects do not overtake the plethora of benefits!
BOTTOM LINE
Artificial intelligence is something that can alter our lives to a great extent in many areas, one of which is certainly education. The future awaits amazing developments in technology which will hopefully be for the better for all us and our children.