Extend to Which Artificial Intelligent Aid Education in the UK - Essay Example

Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a machine or computer to think for itself and mimic human thought process. Of all the modern technological advancements, none is complex than AI. It is fascinating especially on the thought that a machine has the same abilities to react in the same way as the human brain. As much as there has been a major progression of AI in the 21st century that we never thought, the most fascinating relevance is in education. Evidently, AI has had a major positive impact in the educational sector leading to a high learning outcome score especially in the UK.

How artificial intelligence can be useful in education

Artificial intelligence is used in learning and education in many ways. Foremost, AI can be of help in offering personal tutorials and analysing the learner’s pattern of study to forecast when the learner is likely to be stuck. In this case, Artificial intelligence can offer assistance by alerting the tutor (Burns, Luckhardt and Parlett 2014, p.36). However, this technology is immensely helpful to students with learning disability. One of the greatest advantages of AI in education is the fact that the educational software and applications can be adjusted to suit the individual needs of different students, give the teacher ample time to perform actual teaching, and can automate time intense tasks such as grading. AI technology understands exactly what it is expected to do without any instructions from the tutor.

In the higher institution of learning, grading assignments and tests for all the students is a tedious process even when split between the tutors. Not only in colleges but also in lower institutions of learning, teachers always find such tasks tiresome and time-consuming. The time spent grading the students could be used by the teachers and tutors to interact with the students and prepare for class sessions. As much as AI cannot replace the human grading, it is much close to it. With the expansion in technological advancements in AI, it is now possible for tutors to automate grading for nearly all types of multiple-choice questions and that of student’s essays. Artificial Intelligence has seen a development in the essay-grading software, which is likely to improve with time thus allowing the tutors to focus more on important issues such as class work and interaction with their students (Devedzic 2004, p. 48).

Among the very first uses of informed search and blind was its application in games. A game such as chess is believed to be an intelligent activity (Jones 2015, p.15). A recent Artificial Intelligent computer system created by Google has outsmarted Lee Sedol, the best human in the world at Go, an ancient strategy game (Metz, 2016, p.1). With all the complexity in chess, Go originated in Asia approximately 2500 years ago and is considered many stretches more intricate than chess, which succumbed to AI in 1997. Just by use of intelligence, the inventor of chess saw of China Emperor go bankrupt by what seemed as a humble request of appreciation for inventing the game. A fascinating part of this entire discovery created by Google programmers is that they did not teach tech AlphaGo on the way to play the game, it figured itself out after they built a kind of model brain known as the neural network.

Over the last ten years, applications of AI have dealt with several learning challenges such as reasoning, language processing, cognitive modelling, and planning. Just like in the gaming sector, in the education sector, there is also a computer software known as the Intelligent Tutor system. Intelligent Tutor system software can follow the mental steps of a learner during critical thinking and the problem-solving task, and can detect misconceptions and approximate the learner's ability to grasp the domain. Similar to a learned tutor, the Intelligence Tutor System can establish feedback, explanation, and a timely guidance for the learner. Such are some of the factors that promote a positive and productive learning behaviour including self-monitoring, self-explanation, and self-regulation. Other abilities of the Intelligent Tutor Systems are that it can also prescribe other learning activities at difficult times and with content that is most suitable for the learner. Developments of such tutor systems has remained remarkable in advancing the educational sector in UK.

The benefits of using artificial intelligence

Like almost all other AI, the Intelligent Tutor System can impersonate the reimbursements of face-to-face tutoring. In the educational sector, some of the Intelligent Tutor Systems can outdo untrained tutors in particular topics and manage to approach the same criteria as professional tutors. Remarkable examples of the intelligent tutor systems are the Carnegie Learning, the Front Row, and the Tabtor. A meta-analysis system that compares the learner’s result using the Intelligent Tutor System to the learners’ outcome using supplementary Intelligent Tutor Systems results to a higher outcome marks. However, there are questions that may be asked to show that the meta-analysis system is either too small or unrepresentative (Mullen 2013, p.123).

Instead of forming a high panel to revise and develop the syllabus, a process that is much expensive, Artificial intelligence now has a way to solve this problem. Evidently, a huge online provider known as Coursera is already implementing this process (Straumsheim 2015, p. 1). When many students get to submit the wrong answers to a specific question, the system signals the tutor and provides a customized message with a hint of the accurate answer to the future students. This system is helpful as it provides explanations and fills the gap, a means of ensuring that all the students have the sane conceptual foundation. Unlike in the preceding years when the students had to wait for the tutors’ remarks, the current students using artificial intelligent can get immediate feedback that enables them to recall a concept and remember the correct way of doing it the next time.

Not only does AI enable students and tutors to construct a course customized to their needs, but it also provides feedback to its audience on the progress of the course as a whole. Schools with online learning are using the AI system to monitor the progress of their students by alerting the tutors every time there is an issue with their performance. With AI, students can receive all the support they need and enable the teachers to come up with all the areas in need of improvement to avoid staining and struggle of the students. Therefore, AI in the educational system not only offer advice on particular courses, but some are working to come up with systems that can enable students to select majors depending on their areas of strength. It is not necessary that the students go with the advice of the system. However, it could make a completely new world for major selection for students in colleges.

The teacher’s role in education can never be replaced, or even if replaced, it cannot satisfy the same need as the teachers'. Currently, in some high school classes in US, computers have little to do with the manner in which students learn (Christensen, Horn and Johnson 2008 p. 3). However, with the new technology, the role and all that it entails can change due to the development of intelligent computing systems. Like discussed above, AI can take over the teachers tasks like grading and help the students improve. The AI system can be programmed to serve as a platform for providing answers to students’ questions, providing expertise, and even replace teachers’ role within elementary course materials. However, in most scenarios, the AI shifts the tutor’s role to that of a facilitator. Consequently, teachers will always complement AI lessons, offer human interaction, provide hands-on experience for the students, and assist struggling students. Few of the academics in the current generation have learned using the artificial technology making their practise pace slower with limited theory (Laurillard 2013, p.158). In various ways, the AI technology is driving most of these changes in the UK schools.

The drawbacks of using artificial intelligence

As much as the AI technology seems all beneficial and advantageous in the educational sector, it also comes with some disadvantages. The major disadvantage is the loss and breakdown of important information. Most teachers and students tend to rely over on the technology making them so dependent that they even forget to do basic things, a factor that is likely to ruin their lives in the case of unavailability of the tech (Laurillard 2013, p.154).

Unlike teachers, the AI used in the educational sector cannot provide the students with the human quality and touch, a feeling that promotes emotional understanding and togetherness of which machines cannot provide. Artificial intelligent cannot empathize nor sympathize with the students situations and may have an irrational consequence in the development of the students using it.

It is evident that with this level of technology in the UK educational sector, it may cause mass destruction in case the system fails to function or is corrupt with viruses. Students may receive wrong information in case the system fails. In addition, most people feel that using the AI in the educational sector is morally wrong, as intelligence was God’s gift to humanity and replicating it feels like playing God (Njoku 2014, p.39).

Conclusion

The UK is set to examine how AI would effectively affect the various sectors including the educational sector. Complex works call for coordination and teamwork. To come out productively on a team, it is required that each member masters his or her individual role. Even with the improvements in tech in education, there is no substitute for teachers and hands-on experience. However, the AI greatly facilitates the learning process, and help in the understanding of how the human brain works (Barbour 2002, p.83).