artificial intelligence in education introduction

Artificial intelligence in education

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to address some of the biggest challenges in education today, innovate teaching and learning practices, and accelerate progress towards SDG 4. However, rapid technological developments inevitably bring multiple risks and challenges, which have so far outpaced policy debates and regulatory frameworks. UNESCO is committed to supporting Member States to harness the potential of AI technologies for achieving the Education 2030 Agenda, while ensuring that its application in educational contexts is guided by the core principles of inclusion and equity.   UNESCO’s mandate calls inherently for a human-centred approach to AI . It aims to shift the conversation to include AI’s role in addressing current inequalities regarding access to knowledge, research and the diversity of cultural expressions and to ensure AI does not widen the technological divides within and between countries. The promise of “AI for all” must be that everyone can take advantage of the technological revolution under way and access its fruits, notably in terms of innovation and knowledge.

Furthermore, UNESCO has developed within the framework of the  Beijing Consensus  a publication aimed at fostering the readiness of education policy-makers in artificial intelligence. This publication,  Artificial Intelligence and Education: Guidance for Policy-makers , will be of interest to practitioners and professionals in the policy-making and education communities. It aims to generate a shared understanding of the opportunities and challenges that AI offers for education, as well as its implications for the core competencies needed in the AI era

The UNESCO Courier, October-December 2023

• Plurilingual

by Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education

International Forum on artificial intelligence and education

• More information
• Analytical report

Through its projects, UNESCO affirms that the deployment of AI technologies in education should be purposed to enhance human capacities and to protect human rights for effective human-machine collaboration in life, learning and work, and for sustainable development. Together with partners, international organizations, and the key values that UNESCO holds as pillars of their mandate, UNESCO hopes to strengthen their leading role in AI in education, as a global laboratory of ideas, standard setter, policy advisor and capacity builder.   If you are interested in leveraging emerging technologies like AI to bolster the education sector, we look forward to partnering with you through financial, in-kind or technical advice contributions.   'We need to renew this commitment as we move towards an era in which artificial intelligence – a convergence of emerging technologies – is transforming every aspect of our lives (…),' said Ms Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education at the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education held in Beijing in May 2019. 'We need to steer this revolution in the right direction, to improve livelihoods, to reduce inequalities and promote a fair and inclusive globalization.’'

Artificial Intelligence in Education

To prepare students to thrive as learners and leaders of the future, educators must become comfortable teaching with and about Artificial Intelligence. Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT , Claude and Midjourney , for example, further the opportunity to rethink and redesign learning. Educators can use these tools to strengthen learning experiences while addressing the ethical considerations of using AI. ISTE is the global leader in supporting schools in thoughtfully, safely and responsibly introducing AI in ways that enhance learning and empower students and teachers.

Interested in learning how to teach AI?

Sign up to learn about ISTE’s AI resources and PD opportunities. 

StretchAI: An AI Coach Just for Educators

ISTE and ASCD are developing the first AI coach specifically for educators. With Stretch AI, educators can get tailored guidance to improve their teaching, from tips on ways to use technology to support learning, to strategies to create more inclusive learning experiences. Answers are based on a carefully validated set of resources and include the citations from source documents used to generate answers. If you are interested in becoming a beta tester for StretchAI, please sign up below.

Leaders' Guide to Artificial Intelligence

School leaders must ensure the use of AI is thoughtful and appropriate, and supports the district’s vision. Download this free guide  (or the UK version ) to get the background you need to guide your district in an AI-infused world.

UPDATED! Free Guides for Engaging Students in AI Creation

ISTE and GM have partnered to create Hands-On AI Projects for the Classroom guides to provide educators with a variety of activities to teach students about AI across various grade levels and subject areas. Each guide includes background information for teachers and student-driven project ideas that relate to subject-area standards. 

The hands-on activities in the guides range from “unplugged” projects to explore the basic concepts of how AI works to creating chatbots and simple video games with AI, allowing students to work directly with innovative AI technologies and demonstrate their learning. 

These updated hands-on guides are available in downloadable PDF format in English, Spanish and Arabic from the list below.

Artificial Intelligence Explorations for Educators unpacks everything educators need to know about bringing AI to the classroom. Sign up for the next course and find out how to earn graduate-level credit for completing the course.

As a co-founder of  TeachAI , ISTE provides guidance to support school leaders and policy makers around leveraging AI for learning.

Dive deeper into AI and learn how to navigate ChatGPT in schools with curated resources and tools  from ASCD and ISTE.

Join our Educator AI Community on Connect

ISTE+ASCD’s free online community brings together educators from around the world to share ideas and best practices for using artificial intelligence to support learning.

Learn More From These Podcasts, Blog Posts, Case Studies and Websites

Partners Code.org, ETS, ISTE and Khan Academy offer engaging sessions with renowned experts to demystify AI, explore responsible implementation, address bias, and showcase how AI-powered learning can revolutionize student outcomes

One of the challenges with bias in AI comes down to who has access to these careers in the first place, and that's the area that Tess Posner, CEO of the nonprofit AI4All, is trying to address.

Featuring in-depth interviews with practitioners, guidelines for classroom teachers and a webinar about the importance of AI in education, this site provides K-12 educators with practical tools for integrating AI and computational thinking across their curricula.

This 15-hour, self-paced introduction to artificial intelligence is designed for students in grades 9-12. Educators and students should create a free account at P-TECH before viewing the course.

Explore More in the Learning Library

Explore more books, articles, and tools about artificial intelligence in the Learning Library.

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Introduction to teaching with artificial intelligence (ai), penn gse professional learning program, you are here, advances in artificial intelligence (ai) promise to transform teaching and learning. in this program, you’ll have a chance to explore big ideas, design learning activities, and collaborate with peers as you try new approaches to implementing artificial intelligence into your classroom., what sets us apart, about the program.

The Introduction to Teaching with Artificial Intelligence (AI)   program convenes K-12 and higher-education educators who are eager to explore how artificial intelligence can enhance their learning environments.

  Application Deadline

• Priority Application Deadline: June 1, 2024
• Final Deadline: July 31, 2024

Program Start September 10, 2024

Certificate Offered Penn GSE Certificate of Participation

Credits 4 Continuing Education (CE) Credits 40 Pennsylvania ACT 48 Credits

• Standard rate: $1,500
• 30% discount for School District of Philadelphia employees
• 15% discount available for:
• Applications received by June 1st
• Penn GSE and Center for Professional Learning alumni
• Penn employees
• Groups of 5+ from the same organization,  contact us  prior to applying. 

  Ideal Candidates

• K-12 teachers and administrators
• Instructional leaders (e.g., coaches, mentors, professional development leaders)
• Higher education teachers and administrators
• Teachers in informal and non-traditional settings

The Introduction to Teaching with AI program includes three parts.

Part I: Explore You will deepen your own understanding of the recent advances in AI, as well as the questions, tensions, and possibilities it brings to the classroom, by exploring resources, materials, and videos on our online learning platform.

Part II: Envision You will engage in a series of live virtual workshops where you will design learning activities and experiences that you intend to implement in your own classroom. Workshops in previous program cohorts have included: 

• An Introduction to AI: Understanding the scope of what foundation models can do - Dr. Ryan Baker
• Considering the dangers of using AI in the classroom and supporting students to be thoughtful users of AI tools - Dr. Sarah Schneider Kavanagh
• Integrating AI to augment student thinking and collaboration - Dr. Bodong Chen
• Designing writing assignments with AI - Dr. Amy Stornaiuolo

Part III: Enact You will implement learning activities and experiences with your students in your local context. You will also participate in live virtual sessions with small teams of colleagues to connect, collaborate, reflect, and learn from each other's experiences.

Fall 2024 Schedule

By the end of the program, you will gain the ability to:

• Utilize tools such as OpenAI, ChatGPT4, and Generative AI.
• Apply scaffolding techniques taught by Penn GSE faculty experts in instructional design and learning technologies to enhance your curriculum.
• Assess how AI affects students' abilities to learn.
• Make informed decisions regarding AI implementation, usage, and policies.

Continuing Education Credits - FAQs & Policy

Frequently asked questions.

• What are the benefits of obtaining Continuing Education (CE) credits? - Having an official record of your participation in this program can add credibility to the work that you invest in completing it.  In some school districts, CE credits can be used to help educators advance along their pay scale. 
• What style of grading does this program follow? - Programs that offer CE credits award "Pass/Fail" grading. 
• Can I add CE credits after I get started in the program? - You must decide before you start the program if you will be participating as a learner who is completing the program for CE credentialing. You will not be able to opt in after the program starts. 
• Can I receive partial credit or opt out of receiving CE credits after I start the program? - No, this program can not offer partial credit if a learner can not complete the program. However, a learner can unenroll from the program by the drop deadline and will be responsible for 100% of the program fee. 
• Why might you not want CE credits? - If you choose to receive CE credits but do not successfully complete this program, you risk receiving an F on your permanent Penn transcript.
• Can participating educators receive Pennsylvania Act 48 credits if they don't register for CE credits? - Yes! All Pennsylvania educators are eligible to receive the total amount of ACT 48 credits regardless of their preference for CE credits. 

Continuing Education Credits Policy

Please read the policy below   carefully to understand the important consequences that choosing to receive CE credits may have for your University of Pennsylvania  transcript .  

As a participant in this Penn GSE  Certificate program, you are eligible to receive Continuing Education (CE) credits for successful completion of the program requirements.   Whether or not you choose to receive CE credits for your participation in this program, all program expectations and requirements are the same.   

If you choose to receive CE credits, this course will appear on your permanent Penn transcript. 

If you decide to unenroll from this program, you will have until the Add/Drop Deadline to do so without consequence for your transcript.  This course will no longer appear on your Penn transcript.  

If you decide to unenroll from this program after the Add/Drop Deadline, then this course will appear on your Penn transcript.  Courses dropped after the Add/Drop Deadline requires instructor approval, and a 'W' will appear on your transcript in place of a grade.

If you decide to unenroll from this program after the Withdrawal Deadline, then this course will appear on your Penn transcript, and  you may earn an F.

If you choose to receive CE credits for your participation in this program but do not successfully complete it, then  you may earn an F on your Penn transcript.  

Please indicate whether or not you would like to receive CE credits for your participation in this program on your application.

Program Contact

Alexis Andres

Academic Director

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IN EDUCATION: MASTERING THE FUTURE OF TEACHING 10 DAYS

This course targets educators keen to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their pedagogical toolkit. The participants of the course will learn new AI tools and get to know examples of DIY games, online quizzes, and materials that can be prepared with the usage of AI.

Description

• Introduction of participants, warm ups and ice breakers, outline of the programme
• Introduction to AI in education
• Showcase of classroom and activities and GBL game demos
• Chat GPT with Kahoot, Wordwall, Quizlet, Quizizz, Blooket etc.
• Ready-made commands for ChatGPT,
• Building educator confidence in utilizing AI tools
• Educational Escape Room (GBL).
• Producing visuals using AI technologies,
• Creating tasks and exercises for lessons (with AI tools),
• Design games and quizzes using AI technologies,
• Twee: Essential tool for lesson powered by AI
• AI-powered grading and testing systems,
• AI-writing in Google Docs and Google Classroom assignments,
• AI-driven language learning tools,
• Voice transformation tools using AI,
• AI voice research lab and AI voice generator,
• Threats related to AI
• Photo transformation using AI,
• Presentations powered by artificial intelligence,
• Sample classroom activities and game demonstrations (GBL),
• Digital games, websites and apps  for educational purposes.
• Individual support
• Presentation of outcomes, discussion, evaluation and closing session
• Teambuilding and networking activities
• City tour or a cultural trip

Learning objectives

• Gaining a grasp of fundamental concepts of AI.
• Familiarising with AI tools suitable for classroom integration.
• Designing engaging tasks and activities utilizing AI tools.
• Adapting teaching materials to individual student needs using AI
• Recognize potential risks associated with AI.
• Providing and exercising creative ideas and practical resources for successful implementation and responsible use of AI.
• Improving English fluency (official language of the course).
• Promoting intercultural awareness.
• Sharing experiences of school project work and use of AI and GBL in education from different organizations in order to help each of us to be more effective in our work.
• Strengthening the European collaboration among people using AI and GBL in education in different contexts.
• Providing insights into different education systems.

Methodology & assessment

Certification details, pricing, packages and other information.

• Price: 800 Euro
• Package contents: Course

Additional information

• Language: English
• Target audience ISCED: Primary education (ISCED 1) Lower secondary education (ISCED 2) Upper secondary education (ISCED 3)
• Target audience type: Teacher ICT Coordinator Other
• Learning time: 25 hours or more

Upcoming sessions

Funchal (Madeira)

Key competences

More courses by this organiser.

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE 5 DAYS

Next upcoming session  03.06.2024 - 07.06.2024

CULTURAL HERITAGE IN ACTION (RELATING PAST TO PRESENT THROUGH EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, STUDY VISITS AND SIMULATIONS) 10 DAYS

Next upcoming session  03.06.2024 - 14.06.2024

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION THROUGH ARTS AND GAMES 10 DAYS

Course details

• Wed 15 Jan 2025 to 28 Mar 2025
• Mon 28 Apr 2025 to 11 Jul 2025

Artificial Intelligence Concepts: An Introduction (Online)

Using a specially-designed virtual learning environment (VLE), this online course guides students through weekly pathways of directed readings and learning activities. Students interact with their tutor through tutor-guided, text-based forum discussions. There are no 'live-time' video meetings, meaning you can study flexibly whenever it suits you under the direct tuition of an expert. This flexible course is distinct from the live-time classes with weekly lectures on the  Weekly Oxford Worldwide programme .

artificial intelligence,  n.

The capacity of computers or other machines to exhibit or simulate intelligent behaviour; the field of study concerned with this.

source: Oxford English Dictionary

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become ingrained in the fabric of our society, often in seamless and pervasive ways that may escape our attention day-to-day. The ability of machines to sense, process information, make decisions and learn from experience is a transformative tool for organizations, from governments to big business. However, these technologies pose challenges including social and ethical dilemmas.

This course provides an essential introduction to the key topics underpinning AI, including its historical development, theoretical foundations, basic architecture, modern applications, and ethical implications. The course investigates the future trajectory of AI and considers its potential for improving the world while highlighting pitfalls and limitations. It is aimed at a general audience, including professionals whose work brings them into contact with AI, and those with no prior knowledge of AI. The course aims to confer an appreciation of the ways in which our world has already been transformed by AI, to explain the fundamental concepts and workings of AI, and to equip us with a better understanding of how AI will shape our society, so we can converse fluently in the language of the future.

This course does not involve any coding and instead focuses on concepts in Artificial Intelligence for a general audience.

Programme details

Unit 1: What is intelligence?

• The concept of intelligence
• What is artificial intelligence?
• Weak vs Strong AI
•  A Brief History of AI
• Artificial Intelligence Revived
• The Golden Age of AI
•  Applications of AI

Unit 2: Artificial intelligence and society

• Data governance
• AI and Equality
• AI and employment
• Economic opportunities of AI
• Risks of AI
• AI and accountability

Unit 3: Systems and agents

• Concept of an agent
• Structure of an agent
• Rationality of an agent
• Perfect agents
• Task environments
• Designing agents
• Simple reflex agent
• Model-based reflex agents
• Goal-based agents
• Utility-based agents

Unit 4: Logic and language

• Early ideas: Logic and language
• Imitating mathematical intelligence
• Propositional logic
• Designing mathematical languages
• Gödel's incompleteness
• Solving mathematical problems with AI
• The Halting problem

Unit 5: Expert systems

• What are expert systems?
• Representing knowledge
• Reasoning with logic
• Backward chaining
• Advantages and disadvantages of expert systems

Unit 6: Connectionist models

• Biological neural network
• ANNs in action
• Building blocks of a neural network
• An example of a neural network
• Backpropagation
• Architectures and training

Unit 7: Artificial intelligence in the 21st century

• Arriving at the current state of AI
• Big Data and the Internet
• AI and healthcare
• AI and automobiles
• Cybersecurity
• Machine translation
• Ethics of AI

Unit 8: Data science and artificial intelligence

• What is data science?
• Data science processes
• Data exploration: An example
• AI methods in data science
• Autoencoders
• Data imputation

Unit 9: Machine learning and artificial intelligence

• What is machine learning?
• Supervised learning
• Unsupervised learning
• Reinforcement Learning

Unit 10: Testing artificial intelligence systems

• Why test AI systems?
• Software lifecycle costs
• Increasing adoption of AI/ML
• Uncertainty and Oracles
• Ethical dilemmas
• Adversarial inputs
• Challenges of testing AI
• Testing in machine learning
• AI within wider systems

We strongly recommend that you try to find a little time each week to engage in the online conversations (at times that are convenient to you) as the forums are an integral, and very rewarding, part of the course and the online learning experience.

Recommended reading

There is no essential reading associated with this course.

Certification

Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points 

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee for each course you enrol on. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. If you do not register when you enrol, you have up until the course start date to register and pay the £30 fee. 

See more information on CATS point

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework, but only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education, you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee. 

Digital credentials

All students who pass their final assignment, whether registered for credit or not, will be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so. 

Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail. 

Dr Noureddin Sadawi

Dr Noureddin Sadawi specialises in machine/deep learning and data science. He has several years’ experience in various areas involving data manipulation and analysis. He received his PhD from the University of Birmingham. He is the winner of two international scientific software development contests - at TREC2011 and CLEF2012.

Noureddin is an avid scientific software researcher and developer with a passion for learning and teaching new technologies. He is an experienced scientific software developer and data analyst. Over the last few years, he has been using R and Python as his preferred programming languages.

He has also been involved in several projects spanning a variety of fields such as bioinformatics, textual/image/video data analysis, drug discovery, omics data analysis and computer network security. He has taught at multiple universities in the UK and has worked as a software engineer in different roles. Currently he holds the following part-time roles: senior content developer and lecturer at the University of London; international trainer with O'Reilly and Pearson; short course trainer and instructor at Goldsmiths University, London as well as a lecturer at the University of Oxford. He is the founder of SoftLight LTD , a London-based company that specialises in data science and machine/deep learning where he works as a consultant providing advice and expertise in these areas. Currently he is a member of the organising committee of this international conference: https://ilcict.ly/ . A list of his publications can be found here .

Course aims

• To introduce the concept of artificial intelligence and its different paradigms
• To provide an understanding of the real-world potential and limitations of artificial intelligence
• To describe the reach of artificial intelligence in society today.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course students should:

• Understand the concept of artificial intelligence versus human intelligence
• Understand the foundational concepts in mathematics and logic underpinning AI
• Be able to identify examples of real-world applications of AI
• Be able to discuss the social, ethical and sustainability dilemmas posed by AI
• Understand some of the challenges, limitations, and pitfalls of AI in real world applications.

Assessment methods

You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.

English Language Requirements

We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements please follow this link:  https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/english-language-requirements

Application

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an  application form .

Level and demands

FHEQ level 4, 10 weeks, approx 10 hours per week, therefore a total of about 100 study hours.

IT requirements

This course is delivered online; to participate you must to be familiar with using a computer for purposes such as sending email and searching the Internet. You will also need regular access to the Internet and a computer meeting our recommended  minimum computer specification.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support

View a sample page to see if this course is for you

The Rise of AI: An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

• March 5, 2024

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Key Takeaways:

• Artificial intelligence is a field of computer science that focuses on creating intelligent machines that can simulate human intelligence and problem-solving skills.
• There are four different types of AI, including reactive, limited memory, theory of mind and self-aware.
• Some disadvantages of AI include privacy concerns, ethical dilemmas and potential job displacement, while some advantages include efficiency, accuracy and personalization.

Table of Contents

What is artificial intelligence, when was ai created, how does ai work, what are four types of ai, advantages and disadvantages of ai, where to learn more about ai.

Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm. It can be found in so many different facets of everyday life, including in healthcare to collect patient data, chatbots for customer service, transportation for self-driving cars and more. Yet, there is so much more that is emerging.

This article provides a brief introduction to artificial intelligence and how it works. It also dives into the four types of AI and the advantages and disadvantages of AI. Finally, it outlines resources to learn more about AI.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a scientific field that focuses on building computers and machines that can learn, reason and act in a way that mimics human intelligence. AI is also commonly referred to as “machine learning” because of its capability to learn about human intelligence as a machine.

While AI has recently gained significant traction, the first form of AI came to fruition in 1951 in England. Alan Turing, a British mathematician and computer scientist, is often credited as the creator of the first-ever AI technology with his published “Computer Machinery and Intelligence.”

Another prominent individual in the creation of AI is John McCarthy, an American computer scientist who coined the term “artificial intelligence” in 1956. McCarthy also organized the Dartmouth Conference, often called the birthplace of AI, where he and other researchers discussed the possibility of creating machines that could simulate human intelligence.

AI can be complex in what it does, but according to the basics of AI, it works by using progressive learning algorithms and data to do programming. To understand AI, think of it as the information center, similar to the human brain. It can think, learn and make decisions by relying on data and algorithms. Depending on the AI software, the more it is used, the more it gathers about the user and what they are looking for, similar to human brains understanding more and more about topics as it gathers more information.

While AI is not perfect, and mistakes inevitably arise, it continues to advance each day. It is crucial for developers to continuously improve and monitor such AI systems to ensure they work as intended and in an ethical way. Tinkering more with AI software will help further the future of AI , which can positively impact sectors like healthcare, education and cybersecurity.

AI is categorized into at least four unique types differentiated by capability: reactive, limited memory, theory of mind and self-aware. Now armed with an introduction to AI, let us dive into each of these four types of AI and the differences between them.

1. Reactive

This type of AI is the simplest form created. Even though it is simple, it can still perform complex tasks. Reactive AI operates on predefined algorithms and cannot store any of its experiences. For that reason, it is unable to learn from its experiences. With this being said, Reactive AI is great for simple tasks that do not require modifications as time goes on, as it cannot adequately adapt.

2. Limited Memory

Limited Memory AI is the next step forward in complexity, with expanded capabilities that can inform decision-making. Limited Memory can learn from past experiences, which can assist this type of AI in gaining more advanced thinking abilities. While it cannot store an infinite amount of past data, it can store enough past data to more effectively inform future decision-making.

3. Theory of Mind

Theory of Mind is a hypothetical version of AI that is much more advanced than the previous two types of AI. This type tries to understand human emotions, beliefs, intentions, thought processes and more in order to function. This enables Theory of Mind AI to understand human behavior and also potentially predict future behaviors in certain situations. On the surface, this type of AI can bridge the gap between humans and machines, as it can understand both of these groups.

4. Self-Aware

The most advanced type is Self-Aware AI, which possesses consciousness, self-awareness and emotions all similar to those that humans experience. Because it is complex, it has a variety of capabilities to comprehend not only the environment it is but also emotions and feelings to certain situations. While Self-Aware AI is still being refined more each day, it remains the most advanced version of AI that individuals across the world use most widely.

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AI is positively changing how we live daily and can be used in a variety of applications , including smart manufacturing and language translation. However, using AI still has some drawbacks. The following is an introduction to some of the advantages and disadvantages of AI .

• Efficiency: AI enables the automation of repetitive tasks, freeing human resources to focus on more complex endeavors. This leads to increased productivity and efficiency in many different processes.
• Accuracy: AI can quickly analyze large amounts of data to produce reusable solutions for users, which enhances overall accuracy.
• Personalization: Through understanding individual preferences and needs, AI can help deliver targeted information to users.
• Innovation: The capabilities of AI fuel innovation through developing new products and services that otherwise might not have been attainable.

Disadvantages

• Job displacement: There is the potential for job displacement as automation from AI takes away previously human-operated positions.
• Bias issues: After AI machines store past data, they can develop bias issues from the data they are trained on.
• Privacy concerns: AI machines collect, store and analyze sensitive information and data, which can pose risks to individual privacy rights.
• Ethical dilemmas: AI machines can create ethical dilemmas in autonomy, accountability and fairness.

AI is an increasingly powerful tool that is becoming more integrated into our daily lives. There are a wide variety of resources available online if you are interested in learning more about AI and its capabilities in the real world, including the following:

• Coursera Machine Learning
• This Week in Machine Learning and AI

And, to learn even more about AI, including a further introduction to AI and the basics of AI, follow entrepreneur Robert F. Smith on LinkedIn .

Learn how to become a better leader from philanthropist Smith.

Follow Robert F. Smith on social media for the latest on his work as a business and philanthropic leader.

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Systems and technology modernization – $10M-15M: Add/upgrade core banking systems, hardware and productivity tools, train frontline workforce on new systems & technology and hire engineering specialists to support customization and news systems rollout – over 5 years

Talent and workforce – $10M: hire and train additional frontline lending staff and invest in recruiting, training, compensation & benefits and retention to increase in-house expertise and loan capacity – over 5 years

Other capacity-building and outreach – $8M: hire additional staff to increase custom borrower and technical assistance (e.g., credit building, MBE financing options, etc.) and increase community outreach to drive regional awareness and new pipeline projects – over 5 years

Education/HBCU & Workforce Development

3. Offer more paid internships: signup onto InternX and offer 25+ additional paid internships per year to HBCU/Black students 

Digital Access

4. Issue digital access equality bonds: issue equality progress bonds and invest proceeds into SCI’s digital access initiatives

5. Fund HBCU campus-wide internet – up to $50M in donations or in-kind: Partner with the Student Freedom Initiative to deliver campus-wide high-speed internet at ~10 HBCUs across SCI regions

6. Be an advocate for SCI priorities: engage federal and state agencies to drive policy and funding improvements to better support SCI’s near-term priorities

E.g., Engage the Small Business Administration and Minority Business Development Agency to increase technical assistance programs and annual spend to better support Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) with capital and scaling needs

E.g., Ask the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to include multi-dwelling unit connectivity in its new broadband connectivity maps and ask the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to allow non-FCC data in state broadband plans to unlock ~$285M in potential government broadband funding for 5 SCI regions

Directly Fund SCI

7. Invest directly into SCI (coming soon): provide funding for SCI to pool and invest in community initiatives that are most well-positioned for funding and can drive direct community impact.

Memphis, Tennessee

Lead community organization: The Collective Blueprint

Our ambition:

Increase the volume and value of Black-owned businesses – through corporate MBE spend and MBE startups & scaling

1. Scale technical assistance – $15M: fund* to expand technical assistance through business coaches and wrap-around services for 500+ MBEs over 5 years to help them scale from <$1M to $5M+ in annual revenue

2. Standup MBE fund – $15M: standup/scale MBE fund* to offer more flexible access to capital arrangements 400-500 MBEs over 5 years

 * Lead organization: The Collective Blueprint ; Contributing local organizations for community strategy include (but not limited to): Community Unlimited , Women’s Business Center South , Epicenter , others

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 2.3x increase in MBE value & 20K+ new jobs, boosting Black community’s net worth by ~$3B+

Modernize CDFI/MDI systems and tech as well as recruit and upskill talent to increase CDFI/MDI capacity and ability to inject more capital into Black communities

3. Provide loan guarantees – $15M: create a fund* to provide 80% loan guarantees over 5 years to encourage lender participation and inject more capital into the community

4. Conduct advocacy: ask US Treasury & Tennessee State to allow Tennessee CDFIs/MDIs to retain SSBCI capital & offer loan guarantees to boost loan issuance

5. Fund modernization & capacity-building and provide in-kind subject matter experts – $30M: help 4-5 CDFIs/MDIs** over 5 years modernize their core systems, hire and train staff, expand marketing and standup a SWAT team of experts to conduct needs diagnostic, implement tech solution & provide technical assistance

* Leading organizations for community strategy include (but not limited to): Community LIFT , Memphis CDFI Network , etc.

* In partnership with National Bankers Association and Appalachian Community Capital ; CDFIs/MDIs being considered include: Community Unlimited, Hope Credit Union, River City Capital, United Housing Inc, etc.

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): ~$330M+ in additional loans per year to support ~30K+ MBEs

Lower financial burden for Black students, increase number of Black college graduates, increase Black workforce and executive representation and their access to high-paying jobs

6. Standup training hub – $30M: fund* the establishment a world-class training hub that offers certificate-granting STEM and innovation programs in advanced manufacturing, health care, etc. to 10K+ youths

7. Fund SFI program – $7M: fund the Student Freedom Initiative’s  Income Contingent Alternative to Parent Plus to support ~15 Black STEM students per year forever at 4 HBCUs**

* Lead organization: The Collective Blueprint ; Contributing local organizations for community strategy include (but not limited to): Greater Memphis Chamber and Workforce Midsouth

** Minority Serving Institutions / HBCUs with STEM programs being considered: Le Moyne-Owen, Baptist Memorial, University of Memphis, Rust College

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 8K+ additional college graduates and 10K workers with high-paying wages to drive ~$1B+ in economic growth

Increase accessibility, affordability and adoption of high-speed Internet

8. Accelerate digital access initiatives – $75M:  partner with local orgs* to invest in setting up internet connections / installing hotspots, offering laptops and supporting adoption (through government subsidy technical assistance and digital literacy) to connect ~135K homes to high-speed internet in the Memphis region

9. Raise community awareness & adoption of Emergency Broadband Benefit: increase door-to-door and community outreach in low-income neighborhoods to get households onto EBB to help connect ~135K unconnected households 

 * Lead organization: The Collective Blueprint ; Contributing local organizations for community strategy include (but not limited to): CodeCrew

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): ~135K households connected to high-speed internet to unlock ~$2B+ in economic potential

Houston, Texas

Lead community organization: Greater Houston Partnership

1. Scale team – ~$3M: hire 3-4 FTEs over 5 years for One Houston Together * to help companies increase MBE spend from ~2% to 5-10%+ as well as BIPOC workforce advancement and BIPOC board representation 

2. Increase MBE certification and scale technical assistance – ~$2M: partner with One Houston Together * and the Houston Minority Supplier Development Council (HSMDC) ** to certify additional MBEs, develop Minority Business Finder database tool and provide resources and services to help local MBEs scale and participate in Pathways to Excellence program

3. Commit to increase racial diversity in supply chain and procurement: increase MBE spend in Greater Houston region* to 5-10%+

* One Houston Together serves as lead (please contact if you are interested in funding these initiatives)

** Houston Minority Supplier Development Council (HSMDC) serves as a partner organization (please contact if you are interested in learning more about this initiative)

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 2.5x increase in MBE value & ~55K new jobs, boosting Black community’s net worth by ~$12B 

4. Fund modernization & capacity-building and provide in-kind subject matter experts – $30M: help 4-5 CDFIs/MDIs* over 5 years modernize their core systems, hire and train staff, expand marketing and standup SWAT team of experts to conduct needs diagnostic, implement tech solution & provide technical assistance

* In partnership with National Bankers Association and Appalachian Community Capital ; CDFIs/MDIs being considered include: Unity National Bank, Unity Bank of Texas, PeopleFund, Houston Business Development Inc, etc.

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): ~$330M in additional loans per year to support ~30K MBEs

5. Fund SFI program – $120M: fund the Student Freedom Initiative’s Income Contingent Alternative to Parent Plus * to support ~1.2K Black STEM students per year forever at 7 HBCUs**

* Student Freedom Initiative serves as lead (main contact if you are interested in learning more and funding this initiative)

** Minority Serving Institutions / HBCUs with STEM programs being considered: Texas Southern University, University of Houston, Prairie View A&M University, Houston Baptist University, University of Houston-Clear Lake, University of Houston-Downtown, University of St Thomas.  

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 5K+ additional college grads & ~600 workers with senior exec positions / high-paying wages to drive ~$0.2B in economic growth

6. Accelerate SCI’s digital access initiatives – up to $80M in donations or in-kind: invest in setting up internet connections / hotspots, offer laptops/Chromebooks and support adoption (through government subsidy technical assistance and digital literacy) to connect ~145K homes to high-speed internet in the Houston region*

7. Raise community awareness & adoption of Emergency Broadband Benefit: increase door-to-door and community outreach in low-income neighborhoods to get households onto EBB to help connect ~145K unconnected households 

* Community organization(s) being identified 

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): ~145K households connected to high-speed internet to unlock ~$3B in economic potential

Greater New Orleans, Louisiana

Lead community organization: Urban League of Louisiana

1. Scale Black Business Works Fund – $10M: grow the Urban League of Louisiana’s Black Business Works Fund to support ~3K-4K MBEs over 5 years with emergency working capital needs to support/sustain ~$1B+ in annual revenues

2. Scale technical assistance – $20M: fund the Urban League of Louisiana , New Orleans Business Alliance , Thrive New Orleans and Propellor to scale bookkeeping, B2C payment, marketing support & subsidized rent to scale 200+ MBEs from <$1M to $5M+ in annual revenue

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 2.5x increase in MBE value & 8K+ new jobs, boosting Black community’s net worth by ~$2B+

3. Fund modernization & capacity-building and provide in-kind subject matter experts – $30M: help 4-5 CDFIs/MDIs* over 5 years modernize their core systems, hire and train staff, expand marketing and standup SWAT teams to conduct needs diagnostic, implement tech solution & provide technical assistance

* In partnership with National Bankers Association and Appalachian Community Capital ; CDFIs/MDIs being considered include: New Orleans Business Alliance (community convener), Liberty, TruFund, LiftFund, NewCorp, etc.

4. Subsidize internships & apprenticeships – $40M: fund the New Orleans Youth Alliance , YouthForce NOLA and the Urban League of Louisiana to place and help subsidize apprenticeships, internships and other work-based learning experiences for ~20K young adults in high-pay sectors (e.g., energy)

5. Fund SFI program – $12M: fund the Student Freedom Initiative’s Income Contingent Alternative to Parent Plus to support ~120 Black STEM students per year forever at 3 HBCUs*

* Minority Serving Institutions / HBCUs being considered: Dillard University, Southern University – New Orleans and Xavier University of Louisiana

6. Scale career prep – ~$10M: scale the New Orleans Youth Alliance and YouthForce NOLA with 15-20 coaches over 5 years to equip ~20K young adults with skills for high-paying industries, job search & prep and subsidized transportation

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): ~2K additional college graduates and ~20K workers with high-paying wages to drive ~$1B in economic growth

7. Accelerate SCI’s digital access initiatives – up to $35M in donations or in-kind: partner with New Orleans’s Office of Information Technology & Innovation and Education SuperHighway to invest in setting up internet connections / hotspots, offering laptops/Chromebook and supporting adoption (through government subsidy technical assistance and digital literacy) to connect ~55K homes to high-speed internet in Greater New Orleans region

8. Raise community awareness & adoption of Emergency Broadband Benefit: increase door-to-door and community outreach in low-income neighborhoods to get households onto EBB to help connect ~55K unconnected households

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 55K households connected to high-speed internet to unlock ~$1B in economic potential

Charlotte, North Carolina

Lead community organization: Charlotte Regional Business Alliance

1. Offer in-kind FTEs: provide 2-5 in-kind FTEs to the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance (CRBA) over 5 years to convene corporate partners, assess their MBE spend, develop pipeline to increase MBE spend to 5-10%+

2. Offer technical assistance expertise: partner with the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance (CRBA) to advise/mentor ~200 MBEs on capital/loan access to help them scale from <$10M to $50M+

3. Commit to supplier diversity: increase MBE spend in Charlotte region to 5-10%+

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 3x increase in MBE value & ~13K new jobs, boosting Black community’s net worth by ~$2B+

4. Fund modernization & capacity-building and provide in-kind subject matter experts – $30M : help 4-5 CDFIs/MDIs* over 5 years modernize their core systems, hire and train staff, expand marketing and standup SWAT team of experts to conduct needs diagnostic, implement tech solution & provide technical assistance; in-kind experts to also help build out the MBE ecosystem through CDFIs/MDIs, market CDFI/MDI offerings and programs and help draft final loan agreements to qualify borrowers between investment fund(s) and CDFIs/MDIs

* CDFIs/MDIs being considered (examples and not exhaustive): Security Federal Bank, Institute / North Carolina Community Development Initiative, Sequoyah Fund Inc, Self-Help Credit Union, BEFCOR, Aspire Community Capital, etc.

* In partnership with National Bankers Association and Appalachian Community Capital ; CDFIs/MDIs being considered include: Security Federal Bank, Institute / North Carolina Community Development Initiative, Sequoyah Fund Inc, etc.

5. Fund SFI program – up to $10M: fund the Student Freedom Initiative’s HELPS program to support ~1.5K+ students per year at HBCUs* with emergency expenses – e.g., unexpected health costs, late rent payments, etc.

* Minority Serving Institutions / HBCUs in Charlotte that are being considered: Johnson C. Smith University, Johnson & Wales University – Charlotte, Charlotte Christian College

6. Provide in-kind staff: offer 2-5 FTEs to the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance (CRBA) over 5 years to track Black-/Brown-executive representation, convene corporate partners to develop executive pipeline and hiring plans and support corporate partners to increase representation from ~10% to 30%+

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 2.5K+ additional college graduates and 2.5K workers with high-paying wages to drive ~$0.2B in economic growth

7. Raise community awareness & adoption of Emergency Broadband Benefit: increase door-to-door and community outreach in low-income neighborhoods to get households onto EBB to help connect ~35K unconnected households

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): ~35K households get connected to high-speed internet to unlock ~$700M in economic potential for Charlotte

Birmingham, Alabama

Lead community organization: Prosper Birmingham

1. Fund startups and give access to investor network – $70M: grow the Prosper Health Tech Fund – powered by Gener8tor – and offer venture capital technical assistance to scale 50+ startups from <$1M to $5M+ in annual revenue; near-term priority is to secure $4M in venture investment by end of May 2022

2. Fund technical assistance – $25M: fund Prosper Birmingham , Magic City Match , and Birmingham Business Alliance to establish/expand business advisory programs, renovate and subsidize retail/office space for MBEs and scale coaches & support services (e.g., digital footprint, B2C platforms, accounting & bookkeeping, recruitment, etc.) to help 100+ MBEs scale from <$1M to $5M+ in annual revenue

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 3x increase in annual MBE revenue & 8K+ new jobs, boosting Black community’s net worth by ~$2B+

3. Fund modernization & capacity-building and provide in-kind subject matter experts – $30M: help 4-5 CDFIs/MDIs* over 5 years modernize their core systems, hire and train staff, expand marketing and standup SWAT team of experts to conduct needs diagnostic, implement tech solution & provide technical assistance

* In partnership with National Bankers Association and Appalachian Community Capital ; CDFIs/MDIs being considered include: First Bancshares, Commonwealth National Bank, TruFund, Sabre Finance, Bronze Valley, etc.

4. Fund scholarships and hire coaches – ~$35M: scale Birmingham Promise fund to financially support 200-250 students per year over 4 years to increase college retention and graduation rates

5. Fund endowment – $2M: support 50 University of Alabama at Birmingham college students per year with housing to reduce their financial burden and increase college retention and graduation rates

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 6.5K+ additional college graduates & 35K workers with high-paying wages to drive ~$1.2B in economic growth

6. Raise community awareness & adoption of Emergency Broadband Benefit: increase door-to-door and community outreach in low-income neighborhoods to get households onto EBB to help connect ~35K unconnected households

Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 48K households get connected to high-speed internet to unlock ~$700M in economic potential for Jefferson County

ChatGPT was a black swan event

• ChatGPT became publicly available 6 months ago.
• The chatbot has already upended education, training, hiring, and company share prices.
• It was a black swan event — an unforeseen, rare event that looked inevitable in hindsight.

Bill Gates says its creation is as fundamental as the computer chip, the internet, and the PC. Elon Musk wants to put the brakes on development . Warren Buffett is already comparing it to the atomic bomb .

These hyperbolic statements about artificial intelligence were made in the six months since the startup OpenAI publically released ChatGPT, an AI chatbot underpinned by the GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 large language models.

Similarly to Google's Bard and image-generators such as DALL-E and Midjourney , ChatGPT can "create" something based on prompts and falls under the new umbrella term generative AI. And since ChatGPT's release in November, it's causing as much anxiety as excitement.

At least 49 listed US companies have mentioned ChatGPT in quarterly earnings calls in May 2023 to date, according to an analysis of Seeking Alpha transcripts by Insider. It's a sign that corporate America is rushing to show off this new, important tech trend.

And it's no mystery why.

As three researchers recently wrote in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research : "ChatGPT represents an important shock to corporate valuations."

They calculated that firms with high exposure to AI earned daily excess returns that were 0.4% higher than firms with lower exposure after the release of the chatbot.

A former OpenAI researcher, Paul Christiano, said society had "maybe a 10-20% chance of AI takeover" that would leave many or most "humans dead."

Here are the signs that ChatGPT was a black swan event — an unforeseen, rare occurrence that had far-reaching impacts and, in hindsight, looked inevitable.

1. AI has come for jobs

The doomy tech prophecy that robots could eventually replace humans is starting to come true.

In March, an early analysis from Goldman Sachs said that generative AI could significantly disrupt the labor market by affecting around 300 million jobs globally. Coding jobs were predicted to be particularly vulnerable as tech layoffs savaged the industry. A September analysis by GitHub, the code repository owned by Microsoft, said that developers using its AI Copilot tool to aid their coding were 55% faster than those without.

Now CEOs are beginning to say the quiet part out loud .

Arvind Krishna, the chief executive of IBM, said in May that the company would slow or suspend hiring for roles that AI might replace and estimated that 7,800 jobs — mainly comprising back-office roles — could be impacted.

Mustafa Suleyman, a cofounder of Google DeepMind, recently called for universal basic income to support what he predicted would be the "serious numbers of losers" of jobs to AI.

As Insider's Hasan Chowdhury noted , AI may not directly replace jobs across the board because it would enable companies to cut costs by using the technology to make existing workers more efficient and productive.

2. ChatGPT has changed education and training forever

Students and some teachers were among the earliest users of ChatGPT when they realized its potential to produce essays and help with assignments.

Cue plagiarism , false accusations of cheating from educators , and a new atmosphere of distrust between students and professors navigating a post-ChatGPT world.

Related stories

Beyond school, large language models have the capacity to disrupt training even for seemingly elitist careers, such as medicine. One paper , which had not been peer-reviewed at the time of writing, suggested that ChatGPT could pass all three parts of the US medical-licensing examination. Another experiment said that medical researchers preferred ChatGPT to physicians because it appeared to be more empathetic . Human doctors have concluded that the bot wouldn't replace them soon but might still have a few things to teach them about their bedside manner. This is a pretty astonishing prospect for an algorithm.

At a corporate level, surging student interest in ChatGPT saw education companies' stocks get hammered earlier in May .

The student-services company Chegg, which offers online help for students' homework, saw its stock price almost cut in half after CEO Dan Rosenzweig told investors the company had seen a "significant spike in student interest in ChatGPT" that was "having an impact on our new customer growth."

"We see this one as a real, transformational change," he said during its Q1 2023 earnings call, comparing the advancements in AI to other recent technologies such as bitcoin payments. "We're betting very big on the fact that people are going to need to learn how to use these things."

Pearson, a fellow digital learning firm, and the virtual language-learning company Duolingo also saw their share prices plummet.

3. ChatGPT single-handedly blew up Big Tech

On the face of it, Big Tech companies have failed to talk about big, ambitious ideas tangibly over the last five years.

Self-driving cars have stalled, internet balloons failed to take off, and even opening brick-and-mortar stores appeared too difficult a challenge .

ChatGPT lit a fire under these behemoths, with Meta, Amazon, and Google all racing desperately to talk about AI publicly after its release and Microsoft's investment in OpenAI.

In the wake of ChatGPT's launch, Google reportedly declared a "code-red" and has since been pouring resources into AI to try and keep pace. It has also had to pivot quickly in how it talked about artificial intelligence, moving away from high-minded ethics warnings toward actually putting out products.

One is a revamped version of Google search powered by its new chatbot Bard , a direct response to OpenAI's ChatGPT. The firm will also integrate the tech across Google Workspace , marking the biggest innovations to its core products in years.

Keen not to be left behind, Meta has also been emphasizing its AI credentials.

In February , the company introduced researchers to LLaMA, a large language model similar to OpenAI's GPT-4. A month later, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company's "single largest investment is in advancing AI."

Analysts have expressed concern over how much Zuckerberg was spending to increase the company's investment in AI. Meta's lack of consumer-facing AI products, however, has made it less visible in the space .

Amazon, meanwhile, was working on implementing ChatGPT-like features into a secret new home robot, Insider's Eugene Kim reported.

4. Nations want to rein in the spread of AI

With the threat of AI displacing jobs and even defaming people , regulators have been closely watching how private companies roll out AI.

The EU has made early strides towards banning uses that pose an "unacceptable risk" while the Biden administration has been meeting with major players in the industry. ChatGPT was briefly banned by Italian regulators.

Regulators may have been spurred on by a growing chorus of warnings about AI's potential. A UK government official met with Geoffrey Hinton , the former Googler dubbed the "Godfather of AI" who quit Google earlier in 2023 to speak candidly about the risks posed by AI.

Hinton's warnings were first published in The New York Times . They raised similar concerns to those in an open letter backed by other AI heavyweights , including Yoshua Bengio and Stuart Russell .

Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned US lawmakers in May that personalized disinformation targeted at undecided voters was his personal fear.

"I worry that as the models get better and better, the users can have less and less of their own discriminating thought process," Altman said.

Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, has a global deal to allow OpenAI to train its models on its media brands' reporting.

On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.

Watch: What is ChatGPT, and should we be afraid of AI chatbots?

• Main content

Students’ Perspective on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Education

• Open Access
• First Online: 19 May 2024

Cite this chapter

You have full access to this open access chapter

• Christelle Caucheteux 5 ,
• Lianne-Blue Hodgkins 5 ,
• Victoire Batifol 5 ,
• Laurent Fouché 5 &
• Margarida Romero 6  

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture ((PASCC))

While researchers and policymakers contribute crucial insights into the technical, ethical, and systemic dimensions of AI in education, the learner's perspective introduces a different viewpoint in which their representation of AI’s potential influences their perspectives and hopes for improving the learning experience. In this chapter, we focus on studies which analyse the perspective of middle school students at Life Bloom Academy before and after their participation in a semester of AI acculturation activities. Throughout this designated semester, students at Life Bloom Academy embarked on a comprehensive and interdisciplinary educational journey aimed at cultivating their understanding of AI. Under the guidance of their teachers, students began their journey by delving into the philosophical nuances of human intelligence. An integral component of this educational journey involved a visit to the Maison de l'Intelligence Artificielle (MIA), where students actively participated in a diverse range of multidisciplinary activities centred around both contemporary and prospective applications of AI. The study suggests that middle school students not only display a keen awareness of the societal implications linked to the utilisation of AI but also manifest a lasting enthusiasm for the technology that extends beyond the boundaries of a traditional academic setting.

You have full access to this open access chapter,  Download chapter PDF

• AI education
• Students’ voice
• Citizenship
• Early education

Introduction

In the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, it is imperative to move beyond the perspectives of researchers and policymakers and integrate the perspective of middle schoolers. Doing so promotes inclusivity, counters potential biases, and ensures that learners have a voice in the design and integration of AI in education. In this chapter, we focus on the perspective of Higher Education students on the use of AI in education before developing a study based on middle school students who have participated in a semester of activities aiming to develop their AI literacy and their capacity to develop its creative and transformative uses.

Higher Education Students’ Perspective on the Use of AI in Education

In Higher Education (HE), the study of Meade et al. ( 2023 ) identified student opinions on the use of generative artificial intelligence, particularly applications such as ChatGPT. The results revealed that over 60% of students had a basic understanding of AI tools. The study also highlighted a number of ethical and developmental concerns including standardisation, decolonisation, the reinforcement of biases, deskilling, and the potential for impeded skill development due to an over-reliance on technology. Although the issue of academic integrity was raised, several students pointed to their use of ChatGPT as a research assistant, highlighting its function in structuring ideas rather than producing content. The resulting student recommendations called for an increased focus on acculturation to AI efforts and the implementation of alternative assessment strategies that prioritise the development of critical thinking skills. Suggestions were also made to increase student–faculty dialogue around the rules of AI use in HE environments and provide regular updates regarding AI’s rapidly evolving capabilities.

In a study of more than 6,300 HE students across Germany, von Garrel and Mayer ( 2023 ) observed that two-thirds were utilising generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT or GPT-4) with STEM disciplines showing an increased rate of adoption, possibly due to their existing affinity for technology. In all domains, save for art, art sciences, and sports, question clarification and subject-specific concept explication are the most common uses of AI in studies. In the Social Sciences, students used AI primarily for studying literature (30.3%), for translation (28.6%), and for text creation (25.4%). Alternatively, engineering students utilised AI for research (32%), translation (30.7%), and problem-solving and decision-making (30.3%).

In Idroes et al. ( 2023 ), undergraduate students in Romania identified a range of significant benefits and drawbacks of AI use in HE. Virtual assistants, with their ability to support teachers during lessons and provide prompt responses to student questions, were acknowledged as the primary benefit of AI use (42.9%) although improved time management, enhanced interactivity, lesson personalisation, and increased engagement were also mentioned. A notable portion (52.7%) of students also highlighted universal access to AI tools and inclusivity, particularly for students with special needs, as an important benefit. When specifically surveyed about AI use in the assessment process, a significant proportion of the participants (49.5%) identified continuous, timely feedback from virtual AI assistants as a major benefit. Additionally, students also highlighted the benefits of automated exam grading and the subsequent decrease in grading errors. However, students have also expressed concerns regarding the drawbacks associated with the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in HE. The primary concern, as indicated by a significant portion (37.4%) of the Romanian undergraduates in Idroes et al. ( 2023 ), involves the impact AI could have on interpersonal connections and how that might affect the overall quality of education. Additional concerns raised encompass potential internet addiction, reduced student-teacher interactions, and the peril of information loss resulting from system malfunctions. In Canada, online students participating in the study by Seo et al. ( 2021 ) identified the benefits of personalised learner-instructor interactions, but also noted that AI had the potential to diminish interpersonal relationships by reducing the number of human-to-human interactions. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a study by Farhi et al. ( 2023 ) on the impact of ChatGPT usage highlighted its popularity among students as an assistant, but also reinforced the potential for its unethical use and excessive dependency.

Middle Schoolers Perspectives on AI

In its Digital Educational Outlook, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) provides an overview of its members’ efforts to integrate generative AI in educational contexts and offers recommendations for its use going forward (OECD, 2023 ). As such, middle school students are exposed to AI through a variety of educational initiatives. Interestingly, even when these students are not offered access to AI acculturation programmes, they continue to use AI tools outside of the school environment in a variety of educational contexts (e.g. completing homework). Within this context, a number of studies have focused on how middle school students perceive AI and its uses. For example, in Marrone et al. ( 2022 ), middle schoolers, when questioned about the relationship between AI and human creativity, voiced doubt about AI’s ability to replicate the human creative process. Yet, while the same study showed that these students continued to believe that human creativity remained distinct and irreplaceable, there was an acknowledgement that future technical breakthroughs may enable AI to approximate human levels of creativity.

The Life Bloom Academy

In this section, we outline an interdisciplinary project where teachers from the Life Bloom Academy, a middle school located in Cagnes-sur-Mer within the Alpes-Maritimes region of France, collaborated on a semester-long research intervention programme to acculturate their students to AI. A particular emphasis was placed on developing students’ critical thinking, while they considered the ethical questions surrounding AI and its use in educational settings.

Prior to their visit to the Maison de l'Intelligence Artificielle (MIA) , Footnote 1 students participated in preparatory sessions in history, geography, and moral and civic education classes. During these sessions, students considered the question, ‘What is intelligence?’ and debated what constitutes its different forms. Equipped with these insights, students conducted visits to the MIA participating in STEAM-based activities and interactive demonstrations led by MIA staff. These activities served as prerequisites prior to students participating in immersive AI activities back at the Life Bloom Academy.

On the strength of these novel experiences, and having enriched their knowledge through mathematics, science, and technology lessons, the students took part in a second debate on the challenges of AI in history, geography, and moral and civic education. This debate focused on specific questions aimed at enabling students to activate their new learnings on AI. Each student, working alone or in pairs, answered the following questions: ‘What are the positives and negatives of different AI uses in education?’ and ‘What advice would you give to AI developers?’ Student responses were aggregated, revealing a number of AI use cases and their potential impact on daily life.

Middle Student Perspectives on AI in Education

The following section presents five perspectives on AI, aggregated from student responses and collected by their teachers, representing one of the outcomes of the academy’s interdisciplinary project. Students were asked to summarise how AI might impact their lives before considering the potential risks and ethical concerns around its widespread use. Two important reflections that arose from these student perspectives include the idea that AI’s intelligence derives from a combination of pattern recognition and the processing of vast amounts of data and, as such, requires programming to function. Significantly, students also expressed their apprehensions regarding the possible threats posed by AI to their freedom, free will, and future professional opportunities.

Students Perception of the Nature of AI

Upon completion of the acculturation activities, the students revealed two primary themes in regard to AI and its use cases. On one hand, they recognised the value in its ability to automate tasks citing examples such as automated check-outs machines in supermarkets and the autopilot function available in Tesla automobiles. On the other hand, students acknowledged the importance of human involvement in the training and programming of AI models, particularly when those models are expected to interact with humans such as in smart home devices. These examples underscored the students’ awareness of AI’s transformative impact on various aspects of daily life. One participant stressed that ‘AI makes almost everything easier and automated these days, many things are possible. For example, more and more Tesla cars are equipped with autopilots. In addition, more and more professions are being replaced by AIs, such as cashiers in supermarkets.’ Another anecdote, involving the voice-activated assistant Alexa, illustrated the idea that AI, while capable of evolving and learning independently, is still dependent on human input and guidance. ‘AI could help people in their day-to-day work. It is a lot of work to program them, because yes, AI is nothing without humans. For example, Alexa who answers our questions orally and with whom we can have conversations is an AI and it is developing. I said “goodbye” to her when I was leaving and she said she didn’t understand. So, I asked him to say “goodbye” to the people who said it to him. Now she'll give me sweet little expressions to say “goodbye” to me! She can develop on her own, which makes her an AI.’ This dual awareness reflects a nuanced understanding among middle schoolers, recognising both the potential benefits of AI automation and the importance of human intervention in its training and development.

Students’ Concerns About Privacy and Social Control in the Era of AI

Students also raised concerns regarding the integration of AI into our lives and the impact that has on users’ privacy and security. In anecdotes, students pointed to AI’s ability to personalise the user experience (e.g. by tailoring recommendations and advertisements), but also acknowledged the ethical implications of widespread data collection and usage. ‘AI can guide choices through our personal data. It offers us objects, services, and goods that correspond to our tastes. When we search and browse websites, an AI collects this data and resells it. This is why the advertisements we see are often personalised, but does this really respect our privacy? A lot of people are not comfortable with all their data being sold and, even if it is unlikely, this data can be hacked and used for blackmail.’ Students also express their fear of AI’s misuse given the potential for data breaches, hacking, and even the endangerment of lives in extreme cases such as hospital ransomware attacks. These concerns underscore the student's understanding of the risks AI poses to both personal security and individual freedom. ‘There have even been hospitals hacked for ransom, putting the lives of others at risk! All this allows us to see that the data used by AI jeopardises our security and our freedom.’ The students’ apprehensions regarding the potential misuse of personal data by AI, highlighted by concerns over hacking incidents, particularly in critical settings like hospitals, underscores the broader viewpoint that the utilisation of data by AI poses significant risks to both personal security and individual freedom. Yet, students’ concerns regarding AI’s use are not only related to privacy, but also in relation to social control and democracy. Students underscored the urgent need for ethical considerations and robust safeguards in the widespread integration of AI technologies. ‘As AI becomes more and more integrated into our lives, new risks associated with its use are emerging. Its use makes us think about the notions of privacy and security, that is to say the increased risks of hacking our data on the web. Especially since, if AI is used for bad purposes, the risks would be much greater. The new risks that must therefore be taken into account are the risks of the security of our data, our confidentiality and the malicious uses of AI such as for the establishment of a neo-totalitarian regime.’ Another student added, ‘AI is not human and it can meet needs. But it can impact our lives and our freedom. For example, navigation cookies (cookies) or recommendations follow us in our internet searches. When we go to a site, we accept cookies and the computer takes into account our taste for this site and can offer us similar ones. It reduces our freedom because we feel observed and it prevents us from making our own choices. We are offered things, so we are influenced. Soon, in our daily lives, AI will help us with repetitive and household tasks. But we should not completely depend on it.’ These perspectives, while showing a good understanding of technology, also highlight the capacity of students to perceive its inherent risks and how its use might be abused or used unethically.

Students Perception of AI in the Service of Sustainable Development

While some students’ raised concerns regarding AI’s use, others shared an optimistic view of AI as a potential solution to pressing global issues, particularly in the realms of ecological and sustainable development. The envisioned use cases ranged from optimising agricultural practices by anticipating diseases and managing water resources to deploying specialised robots for cleaning oceans. ‘AI may seem like a solution to address ecological and sustainable development issues. It can help us create sustainable innovations, manage energy, organise depollution and recycling efforts, or resolve tense situations. Thanks to AI, it would be possible to optimise soil management and the yield of agricultural land by, for example, anticipating the appearance of diseases, optimising water use or adjusting production to demand. The robot might just look like a little chip that could scan the land to optimise for water, etc. To clean the oceans, we could make two types of robots, one that stays on the surface of the water to pick up the waste that is present there, it would have the shape of a small boat and it would be formed of a large pocket to collect waste. For the second type of robots, this one could go underwater to pick up trash. It would have the shape of a large fish and so that it would not scare marine animals, it would have a very large pocket to store waste.’ The potential uses of AI for sustainable development extend to addressing climate change challenges, emphasising the role of AI in altering consumption habits, and preventing food waste through innovations like smart refrigerators. Students see AI as a transformative force that, if ethically and sustainably implemented, could contribute significantly to overcoming critical environmental and resource-related challenges globally. ‘With the challenges of climate change, natural resources are dwindling and the risk of famine and food shortages is intensifying. A change in our habits is then necessary, and AI can help us in this change and in controlling our food consumption in order to preserve our resources. For example, we could create an AI that would prevent food waste with a smart refrigerator that would prevent us from wasting food. We could automate and improve the production of greenhouses thanks to AI, ​​which would analyse the temperature and humidity. All this to say that AI can help us solve our global problems.’ The students also acknowledged the critical role that AI can play in addressing the challenges posed by climate change and resource scarcity. The students emphasised the need for a shift in human habits to adapt to these challenges and AI is seen as a powerful ally in fostering this change. The proposed solutions, such as AI-managed smart refrigerators to prevent food waste and the automation of greenhouse production through AI analysis of environmental factors, highlight the technology's potential to enhance sustainability in food systems. Septiani et al. ( 2023 ) consider this type of use case as a form of agentic and transformative creativity made possible by AI.

Students’ Perception of the Potential of AI in Healthcare

Students have high expectations regarding the use of AI in the healthcare sector, particularly in the areas of care and treatment. The notion that AI could assist, or even replace, human professionals in certain medical tasks underscores the technology's capacity to enhance efficiency and precision in healthcare delivery. ‘Another area where AI could be useful is in healthcare and more specifically in care and treatment. Indeed, AI could help, or even replace, professionals in their work by performing tasks or analyses in the medical field. AI could, for example, take care of delicate operations, without the intervention of personnel. One can imagine that it would be useful in the event of an accident. We could also use AI to optimise the treatment of diseases. If AI is able to detect and recognise them, it would be possible to make precise diagnoses, whether to prevent the first symptoms or to treat them at a more advanced stage, while monitoring the evolution and therefore adapting treatments. The advantage of this system would be to have a large database that would replace the limited experience of health(care) professionals.’ Additionally, students shared their concerns regarding the potential risks for data privacy in healthcare. ‘If a robot containing AI is hacked, it would be dangerous. For example, if a medical robot is hacked, it could cause deaths. The same problem applies for the use of AI in the army. If there are robots in a war, they will not be afraid to die and therefore they can do much more damage and death.’ Moreover, students raised the potential risks of reducing human capacities. ‘The other risk is the weakening of human capacities: if everything is done by AI and it no longer works, then what are we going to do, because we will no longer be able to do everyday things?’ The students shared their concerns regarding the consequences of excessive dependence on technology and the dangers of developing an over-reliance on AI. In doing so, they stressed the need to maintain and nurture human competencies in the event of unforeseen challenges or failures in these systems.

Students’ Expectations of AI at the Service of Education

The students were also able to identify different use cases for AI in support of educational administrative tasks. ‘The AI ​​would be able to help teachers with administrative tasks. She will be able to do all the administrative things in relation to the director by helping him with accounting or sending emails. It would also be very useful to the teacher: for the roll call, the preparation of exercises and lessons, or the evaluation of learning.’ The students also identified the potential for AI to personalise the learning experience by providing real-time scaffolding, lesson difficulty scaling, and ongoing, persistent feedback.

In this chapter, we have reviewed different studies on student acculturation to AI, focusing primarily on middle school and Higher Education students. We can observe that a majority of students in Higher Education use generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, even when they have a disparate understanding of how AI works. For its part, Higher Education continues to deal with concerns around deskilling and dependency as potential impacts of AI’s use. Middle schoolers are also using generative AI and reflecting on its ability to reproduce human creativity.

In order to better understand student perspectives of AI usage in educational environments, the Life Bloom Academy developed an interdisciplinary action-research activity for middle school students exploring the impact of AI on critical thinking and ethics. The project helped students comprehend AI and its ramifications, emphasising both its potential as well as ethical problems. Reflections collected from the project showed that students have high expectations in relation to AI and its different use cases. At the same time, they are also aware of the potential opportunity costs associated with AI use such as deskilling due to over-reliance and the potential for data theft and misuse. The work of the disciplinary team, based on five pedagogical inputs, allowed students to express themselves autonomously about their citizenship in the age of AI. Importantly, the experiences shared by these middle school students have shown the ability to critically analyse the potential and risks associated with AI use, but the depth and accuracy of their analysis is dependent on their understanding of AI fundamentals. Therefore, we should view acculturation to AI as a basic requirement for all students as a way of developing their citizenship and agency in the age of AI.

For more information on the efforts of the Maison de l'Intelligence Artificielle (MIA), please refer to Chapter  6 , International Initiatives and Regional Ecosystems for Supporting Artificial Intelligence Acculturation.

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Caucheteux, C., Hodgkins, LB., Batifol, V., Fouché, L., Romero, M. (2024). Students’ Perspective on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Education. In: Urmeneta, A., Romero, M. (eds) Creative Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Education. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-55272-4_8

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