Will AI language tools and machine learning assist or inhibit critical thinking in schools? Will it broaden the digital divide among students, or will it bridge the gap and create and provide beneficial opportunities for educators and students?
Adam Fairall, an educator at Reddam House Atlantic Seaboard, specifically at the Department of English and History, believes that, provided students have access to the internet and devices, AI language tools such as ChatGPT can elevate education in South Africa.
It will provide students with the necessary skills which will allow them to adapt to various scenarios, grow their skill levels and apply their knowledge to a relevant and ever-changing employment environment.
In an article published by Fairall, he states South Africans need to embrace AI technology in both education and the workplace. “Teachers and schools cannot simply ignore or block access to these systems that have been let loose on our students. There is no way to block or mitigate this kind of technology, nor is this an attitude that should be adopted in education. We must, as learning specialists, accept and make use of this new and exciting opportunity.”
What is ChatGPT? ChatGPT is a language tool developed by OpenAI and launched last year in November. It is driven by AI technology and can perform various administrative tasks such as interacting with users by answering questions, composing emails and essays and writing basic code.
Pros and Cons of Using AI in the Classroom
Fairall said his students have begun to use the language tool in the classroom and has responded positively to it. He adds, his students like that ChatGPT can perform basic administrative tasks as it provides them with a base to think more critically and launch various innovative and creative ideas.
“At the moment, the way we use it with our students at Reddam House Atlantic Seaboard is that we use it to springboard creative thinking and critical thinking … When we look at my students … They like the fact that this can do a lot of the basic administrative kind of work for them or the basic writing for them. But then they still need to go back and almost critically analyse that piece and finesse it and make it their own. So I think that if you really want quality work, you can use this to kind of stimulate the ideas and the thinking.”
From an educator’s perspective, it decreases the lesson preparation time, as lessons can be digitally created in a matter of minutes, allowing them to focus on other tasks and students. Fairall adds from his experience, the AI tool enables him to perform at a much higher level.
“ChatGPT and machine learning can help me support and help me create learning plans that help support weaker students. That’s quite nice as well. So, I’m able to carry the weaker students in the system more, but at the same time, I’m able to push and challenge the students who are accustomed to higher-order thinking. That’s quite fun, and that allows me more of an option in class to really get involved and really be creative as a teacher.”
However, AI has many potential pitfalls in the classroom. Amongst those is the lack of human interaction between the educator and the student, a reliance on the AI to complete assessments and the inaccurate information it can provide.
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The Potential Impact AI Can Have on Different Subjects
There is a growing fear that AI will stifle students’ critical thinking skills as they could become dependent on it for other subjects. He compares the use of AI in the classroom to that of an everyday calculator.
“If we go back in history and we look at the maths classroom, most of our calculations were all done [mentally]. It was mental maths, really, or we worked it out manually. And with the creation of the calculator and calculators entering the classroom, it posed the very risk [we’re] speaking of now. I think that maths teachers were more stifled, saying that well [now] basic arithmetic and all of this stuff is covered by the calculator, what on earth can I teach them? But if you look at the concepts of maths today, it is that we almost need the calculators to function on the most basic of levels.”
Fairall said educators and students need to approach the AI tool for what it is. A base to springboard new ideas and critical thinking. A tool which is only allowed to do some of the work and not all of it.
Therefore, it becomes imperative for students to always check the information produced by the language tool. They need to be aware and know how to critically analyse the data and work from it to create authentic and original work.
“It’s important with a ChatGPT, with artificial intelligence and with machine learning to go back and check. To know how to go back and check and to know how to go back and problem-solve. So you’re using it to do all the hard work but you still have the skill set to go back and assess, re-look at and re-navigate.”
AI technology and machine learning can be beneficial to students. However, with much more data, it will be easier to determine the long-term effects it can have. But one thing is definite. It cannot substitute the importance of the bond between a teacher and a student.
