Wake up to the importance of AI in education
For a couple of years or so the brouhaha about AI has been on us. The one worry that consistently nags me is the lack of readiness in terms of expertise and acceptance in terms of use of AI in education in my country. I have been engaging with several institutions in India at the level of schools and colleges and I find near-negligible awareness and use of AI in education from the pedagogical point of view.
I have been directly or otherwise aware of recruitment processes in several of India’s universities. I do not know of any advertisement for recruitment purposes that emphasises knowledge and some degree of verbal felicity in the use of generative AI for discipline-centric research or for teaching and learning. Some of our research-centred institutes such as the IISc will be exceptions, but there shall not be too many such exceptions.
Almost every discipline has the potential to take advantage of AI in its processes for teaching. Yet, selection committees for recruitment purposes in universities are mostly clueless about the matter. In my area of mathematics, I am aware that neural network-based AI is transforming mathematical modelling by providing sophisticated strategies for tackling complex differential equations.
In fact, traditional numerical methods for solving complex partial differential equations have been computationally intensive and time-consuming. The emerging AI-driven approach represents a transformative methodology. Yet, in my extensive interactions with mathematics teachers I have not come across any such teacher. The sooner our colleges and universities start acting to remedy this lacuna, the better.
My other worry is that our schools should also take active interest in meaningful ways to ensure awareness and some degree of use by school students and teachers alike of AI for learning purposes. A few days ago, I had occasion to interact with the principal and staff of a well-known high school. Several days before this interaction I had urged the principal and his teachers to engage in gaining some simple familiarity with the meaning and use of AI.
On the day of my interaction, I had a gentle and frank discussion with them on the impressions that they were carrying about AI. The most disappointing aspect was that the principal was clueless about the meaning of AI. When asked to cite an example of AI, he mentioned the use of a laptop for word processing as opposed to the use of a typewriter.
Here, let me mention the pioneering work that Sal Khan—of the very famous Khan Academy—is engaged in. He has partnered with OpenAI to create the virtual school Khanmigo, Khan Academy’s AI-powered educational assistant designed to provide personalised learning experiences for students and support for teachers. Sal Khan, in an interview, narrates how his daughter who needed some personal help in a literature project dealing with the novel The Great Gatsby used Khanmigo.
She actually carried on a conversation with Gatsby himself who had been brought to life by Khanmigo. She asked Gatsby a question that arose in her mind whilst reading the novel and received a very engaging and useful response. The reader can gauge for herself how real and satisfying the whole interaction has been for the student. I urge teachers and through them their students to take advantage of such platforms that are using AI so effectively.
Dinesh Singh
Former Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University; Adjunct Professor of Mathematics, University of Houston, US
Posts on X: @DineshSinghEDU