Artificial intelligence in education: What are the advantages for learning?

In 2001, filmmaker Steven Spielberg released one of the most wonderful films of that decade, AI, Artificial Intelligence, and brought the topic to society for debate once and for all. It may not seem like it, but it's been 20 years since the film, and the subject is now seen a little more naturally, even being divided into subtopics to facilitate discussion.

One of these subtopics, of crucial importance, is Artificial Intelligence in education . No, we are not talking about robots in classrooms teaching English or Mathematics, but rather an intelligence system that interacts with the entire educational structure and dynamics , creating solutions and facilities in the pedagogical process.

In this article we will explain three strategic questions to help us understand the subject:

1° What is Artificial Intelligence? An introduction to the subject.

2° What is Artificial Intelligence in education? A detailed explanation of the topic.

3° What are the advantages of learning within this pedagogical structure? A deeper look at the topic.

Let's go?

Artificial Intelligence beyond the movies

The term, which dates back to the 1950s, arises from the assumption that human actions are so precisely described that it is possible to create a computer system that can repeat or simulate these actions. 

In other words, the goal of this field of research is to create a machine that observes, perceives, decides and deliberates, based on logical action based on facts. If we go back to Spielberg's film, we will see that the great difference in his proposal was to insert emotion into the robot (AI), a subject that is still taboo in this discussion.

Artificial Intelligence is constantly evolving, and always needs more and more data, actions and variables to perfect itself in the art of learning and deliberating. 

Thus, we can already foresee the Artificial Intelligence system within the pedagogical process, with the same functions as an AI, but with specificities that aim to evolve the entire educational structure.

And how would this be done? Hence our second topic.

Artificial Intelligence in education

If we think about its literal meaning, we can say that the main objective of AI in education is to understand, through data, the modus operandi of teaching, and how this affects the student's ability to absorb knowledge, the quality of learning, and how this process takes place in detail. 

The idea is this: if there is a way to understand how learning is produced and received by students, then we can always improve this system, correcting flaws and enhancing what works. 

And so a second objective of AI in education emerges: to promote more productive, inclusive, personalized and improved learning environments.

If a computer system can identify whether or not a student has acquired knowledge in a given class, and can also understand whether the student is happy, sad, confused or calm during this same class, then based on this data the system itself can suggest changes in posture, dynamics and pedagogical strategy.

Does the machine replace the teacher? 

This example, which is already being used on an initial scale in schools, may at first give the impression that the objective of Artificial Intelligence in education is to create new teachers, and this is not true.

AI emerges to improve the educational structure , producing data (and more data) and making a logical reading of it, to then present such data to educators and education managers in the form of teaching suggestions, improvements in dynamics, proposals for new pedagogical actions and improvements to what is already working. This system is called learning analytics.

The teacher will then be able to use this entire information base as a tool to promote a more productive, healthier, more inclusive school environment, transforming it into the north for the future of teaching: inclusion and production in a healthy environment.

There is also the possibility of implementing AI systems for moments in the pedagogical structure in which the teacher in theory "wastes time", such as attendance records or the organization of workloads. In this sense, Artificial Intelligence does in fact replace the teacher's work, but for a reasonable reason:

- Provide more time for the teacher to monitor their students more individually.

So are we facing a revolution in education?

Before answering, we can introduce our third question:

What are the advantages of learning within this pedagogical structure?

Considering all aspects, we can say that we are facing a revolution that is in its initial phase in the educational process, and presents trends for the coming years and decades.

This revolution is positive and productive in many ways. Check out some of them:

Time optimization

We know that teachers spend a lot of their time on activities that could easily be automated. These include attendance, workload organization, lesson planning, and assessments. 

Thus, AI will be able to program intelligent systems that not only perform less dense tasks such as attendance, but also personalize lesson planning to increase productivity, engagement and positive responses from students.

Focus only on the student

Without the need to plan or carry out more bureaucratic actions, the teacher will certainly have more time to focus his efforts on the students, in understanding in a more personalized way the difficulties, weaknesses, interests, and a series of elements that will bring much better and more robust results in the educational process.

Teachers will also be able to improve school dynamics at any time, given that they will have access to millions of pieces of data provided by AI, with suggestions based on a logical reading made by intelligence systems. And they will be able to improve actions that have already been working.

If the system shows that there is greater absorption of knowledge by students when classes are offered with the addition of music and other tools, then the teacher will be able to enhance that dynamic and increasingly improve the classes.

Measure student performance more accurately

Another significant advance in the process of introducing Artificial Intelligence into education will be in the field of data analysis. 

The teacher, having access to hundreds (thousands) of student data, will be able to analyze their evolution in the learning process in more detail, and thus implement new actions, exclude others, and improve the teaching environment, achieving better pedagogical results.

The combination of data offered by a computing system with the capacity to reflect more fully, characteristic of us, human beings, will certainly lead to an evolution in the teaching and learning system, making the entire pedagogical process more enjoyable, productive and inclusive.

Greater engagement

We don't need to be experts in education to understand that new generations deal much better with new technologies and games than previous generations. Many argue that the more traditional educational system, with books galore, students sitting in a classroom and a teacher sitting in front talking non-stop, is one of the reasons for a deficit in the learning process in.

In this sense, Artificial Intelligence in education plays an essential role in understanding this gap, through the use of obtained data, and thus suggesting the implementation of games, more interactive and user-friendly teaching systems.

 There is no doubt that this is one of the most promising trends in the learning process. The use of educational games and lighter, more dynamic and easier programs will become increasingly common, especially when education managers realize that the results in the teaching and learning process will be much better than they are today.