The Future of AI and Teaching

I recently saw an article on the BBC about a private school in London, starting to run AI lead classrooms in a trial that may or may not be a reflection of things to come. As a tutor, invested in helping teens improve their numeracy and problem-solving skills, I thought I’d spend time explaining and exploring the idea and how I’d like to see this technology used to enhance the learning experience.

A student engaged in learning

To start with, I want us all to think back to our time at school (for some of us that may be a bit longer than others). Though classroom sizes varied, most classes were filled with students of mixed levels of abilities. You would see some students tune out, not because they were unable to work, but because they were finding the work too easy. On the flip side, you would have students who struggled and felt like the work was advancing too fast and would feel dread when it came to working on the questions in front of them. Of course, this is a simplified understanding of the complex nature of teenagers and their motivations, but there was logic to the classrooms being set up in this manner.

So, you can understand the appeal in tailoring learning to the individual like AI enthusiasts suggest. Their idea is that through a series of tests, the AI helper can assess the student’s level of ability and identify their weaknesses, and tailor questions to them. This way, you avoid the pitfalls of the more advanced students feeling bored and unengaged, while supporting the students who felt like the materials were too hard. While I feel like AI support in this way may improve the learning experience for students who often don’t get much time alone with their teacher to go over points of difficulty, I don’t think this should be a full-on replacement for teachers.

Why?

I think to treat a classroom as solely the place where students go to receive information, and an education is a gross oversimplification. This is the place where we send our children to mature into adulthood. This is where they start getting exposure to society, expectations, and the difficulties in finding your own path in the world. I don’t see teachers solely as containers filled with knowledge to dish out to these teenagers. Through my teenage eyes, I saw them as role models, adults that I trusted to help me navigate this strange world of tests, examinations and growing up. I still think this view holds up today.

Just think, we all had subjects that we enjoyed and that we hated. Teachers who had a profound impact on our life views either for the positive or negative. How much of these experiences did we carry forward? How many of them shaped us into being the person we are today? If you’re anything like me, you will have experiences both good and bad.

I had teachers newly qualified to nearing retirement, from different walks of life, there to observe and decide what qualities I wanted to emulate, to take on as I developed into an adult. There were those filled with enthusiasm for their subject, that made the learning fun and engaging, and there were those that… honestly didn’t care all that much and seemed to only be there for the money at the end of the month. Yet, when we all went out into the world and tried to find our way, how many of these same personalities did we encounter out in workplaces?

This is why I think that schools still need teachers. Not just there to supervise while the AI crunches the numbers and data and configures the work to meet the student. To be there, so that teens can see what it is to be a human being, flawed and all. In a society where people are increasingly attached to their screens and technology, aren’t we all at risk of losing sight of our own personal development as humans? To chase the dopamine that comes with constant sensory stimulation, and engage with the world on a shallow two-dimensional level?

So, I welcome AI as a tool, to assist our stretched thin teachers to tailor their lessons better for students. It is a powerful tool that can analyse far more data than we humans can when it comes to evaluating academic performance. However, it cannot replace the experiences we go through on our journey into adulthood and help us to develop as human beings. Will an AI ever be able to inspire someone the way that a passionate teacher can? I don’t think so.