Dr. Rizwan Naseer
Security Analyst, Karachi, Pakistan
The usage of AI in modern times has made a profound impact on our lives. It certainly has transformed our lives in many ways. Our personalized experiences, interaction with technology, financial services, entertainment industry, healthcare, education, communication and so on have undergone a great degree of transformation due to the usage of AI. Education being one of the most important sectors is likely to experience a greater transformation.
Though, this is merely the beginning of AI usage in the education sector although it still impacts modern education in multiple ways. It changes the way students learn, teachers teach, institutions operate, and industry produces. In sum, it has revolutionized the thinking process. Such an environment globally poses a multitude of challenges, especially to the developing world which lags behind in AI race and adaptation.
The first ever impact that AI has made is on personalized learning. Due to the usage of AI now students don’t need to learn at the pace of class or other students, the AI helps students learn at their own pace which leads to better learning outcomes.AI-enabled education is more tailored according to the needs and preferences of the learners. The traditional teaching methodology is yielding low results, whereas AI-enabled learning motivates learners, engages them and it is helping to reduce the likelihood of dropouts.
AI- enables learning is not limited to students but professors are also gaining much advantage of knowing each student’s need, his learning process and improving methodology to teach more effectively. Due to usage of technology and AI in education sector, students’ access to resourceful materials has drastically increased. Even for literature review purposes, books in any language are easily translated through language translation tools. The access of learning tools has become available universally due to ease of learning, no matter what language a teacher has taught, presentation translator is a free plug-in for PowerPoint that creates subtitles in real time for the students and they can take notes very effectively in their own language.
At the same time, AI has connected students from all over the world through various social media platforms, learning communities and online collaborations. The AI-powered accessibility tools have made education more accessible for students with disabilities. There was a time when students waited for even acquiring basic information and the staff of educational institutes, due to the high volume of emails were unable to respond on time. But in recent time chatbots, and virtual assistants have been remarkable in providing students with instant response and support. Now student learning is not limited to classroom reading or learning material instead they are part of international community who are interacting and AI is assisting them find their required resources.
For centuries the assessment has been a problematic task for teachers as some students due to illegible handwriting but amazing ideas could not pass the exams. That problem has been solved due to AI-powered assessment systems as they provide more accurate and objective evaluations of students. It certainly reduces the bias and improves the quality of the assessment.
The usage of AI is likely to revolutionize the education sector but it also will face a number of challenges to replace centuries-old methods of teaching as the acceptability and adaptability of AI-enabled learning amongst developing nations is slower. This is quite predictable those who are slowly adapting to technology will be out of the race. Similarly, many are likely to face challenges of shifting from manual tasks to automotive whether it is about grading, assessment-related tasks.
Pakistan’s IT industry has gained momentum in recent years. The IT industry made record-breaking remittances in fiscal year 2022, which totaled $2.616 billion. It shattered records of all previous years. But Pakistan’s educational institutes are still trying to reach the process of digitization. To familiarize students and teachers with AI-powered learning tools, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan should formulate an effective policy to train teachers and students in the higher education sector. A similar approach to secondary education is required. Private institutes are rapidly transforming according to the latest trends in teaching and learning but a larger population attends public schools. Children born in this age are naturally tech-savvy, they are the ones who can easily capitalize on modern tools of learning. Given contemporary modern educational trends, these are not revolutionary reforms but a primary need. I reckon, the impact of this transformation is going to change a whole generation.
Overall, the use of AI has the potential to transform education by making it more personalized, accessible, engaging, and highly effective. While there are challenges associated with implementing AI in the education sector, concerned departments must prioritize to remain relevant to global educational trends. Indeed, the benefits of AI-enabled learning are clear, and the technology is likely to play a significant role in the future of education.
# Dr. Rizwan Naseer is a Karachi, Pakistan-based strategic security analyst. He can be reached at multirizzz@gmail.com: Ed. Upadhyaya. N. P.