Education Has Been in Need of a Change. Can AI Be That Trigger? 

Generative Artificial Intelligence has disrupted superior education and has the potential to transform it. How and why should we learn? What is the role of the teacher? And how should we face these new challenges? President of Jala Group, Jorge López, gives his insights.  

For years now we’ve known that our education system, the way we approach learning, and our teaching methods are outdated. With its origins in the Industrial Revolution, this system that emphasizes efficiency, uniformity, and specialization, reflects little of the skills and knowledge people need in modern society. For years, there have been attempts to change these practices and reshape education across all levels to fit the knowledge needs of the twenty-first century. But most of those attempts have been inefficient or not transformative enough, until now: it seems Generative AI might be the blow the system needs for reformation.  

The existence of robots, bots, or mechanical assistance for learning is an old one. In his fictional short story “The Fun They Had”, Isaac Asimov anticipated these debates in the early 1950s. In the story, Margie and Tommy, two children of the future, find out through an old-fashioned book describing schools from the past how teaching happened in older times. In their reality, Margie and Tommy learn through mechanical teachers who provide individualized instruction to students.  

However fictional, the story was only years ahead of the actual development of a machine that would create debate and chaos across the United States: The 1960s Teaching Machines. There too, students worked independently, inputting answers into the devices at their own pace. Needless to say, the machines did not revolutionize education as it promised, nor did the teachers become “glorified babysitters”, as some feared.  

Unlike those automats, Generative AI’s questions and answers are less mechanical, they can seem improvised at times and always new. To put it in other words: they can be fun. 

This is one of the things Sal Kahn, creator of Khan Academy loves so much: how you can interact. Unlike most of the examples mentioned, Generative AI’s dynamic chat format makes it engaging and interesting. Chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini (formerly Bard) go beyond simply providing information and corrections. You can ask them to do things like impersonate a character from a book for a Q&A session or even assist in building a course curriculum built to your needs. 

Kahn has been one of the pioneers and defenders of using Generative AI for educational purposes: “I think we’re at the cusp of using AI for probably the biggest positive transformation that education has ever seen.”– as he stated in his Ted Talk almost a year ago.  

The appearance of these Chatbots brings forward once more the questions that educators and academia have been trying to answer for the past decades: How should we learn? And why should we learn? 

How We Learn 

In an era where information is just a click away from the average internet user, most wonder what is worth learning. From my position at Jala University, I’ve always stated that developing self-education skills is fundamental, possibly even more critical than the traditional reliance on formal instruction in classrooms. 

In this new era, Generative AI has the potential to be a powerful tool, capable of personalizing education, making it more accessible and efficient, and, most importantly, empowering self-education. This is precisely what we have aspired to achieve with Meetpoint: to create a learning environment that is not only innovative and adaptable but also empowers students to take control of their education, using the most advanced technologies available to them. 
 

AI can redefine roles within the virtual classroom, transforming students into architects of their own learning. This paradigm shift leads us to reconsider what it means to “teach” and “learn”, and how education can be more inclusive, adaptive, and ultimately, more effective. 

If students should take control of their learning and, through the help of tools like Generative AI, self-teach and learn driven by curiosity and passion for their education, then what happens with teachers? Will they become as 1964’s journalists feared “glorified babysitters”?  

Like Asimov in the aforementioned short story, where Margie longs for the human interaction and spontaneity of traditional classrooms, many have argued that there is something special about human-to-human contact in the learning process. Even if virtual learning has already become a norm, teachers are still an integral part of the process, offering experience, mentorship, and empathy for students. 

Currently, at Jala University, even though we offer virtual education, the human factor is a cornerstone of our learning experience. Meetpoint reflects our understanding of the need for human interaction, which is why it mimics being in a physical environment, creating spaces that foster socialization and connection.  

One of our current projects to enhance Jala University’s Meetpoint is the development of an AI tutor that helps the student through their educational experience. The chatbot draws inspiration from Harvard University’s experience and the utilization of AI-based tools in CS50 

 This tutor aims to guide students through the complexities of university life. Imagine this scenario: You are a student who can’t remember your paper’s due date. Or perhaps you’re unsure about the topics included in next Tuesday’s test. Well, you need only ask your tutor for that information.  

More than just a secretary, this chatbot could also help a student understand something that didn’t quite click in the teacher’s lecture. Or, if you’re doing some coursework and can’t solve –say- a mathematics problem, ask your tutor for assistance.  Although many would expect the chatbot to simply give the answer, like Chat GPT or Bard would do, our Chatbot aims to help students reach their own conclusions. Through the Socratic method (based on how conversation and logic can lead to new ideas and discoveries), they aim to guide the student to arrive to their own answers, therefore fostering critical thinking and deductive reasoning. 

All these wonderful things have been done in only a few years of development, imagine what could happen in the next five years… or decade…  

However these advancements go, we must reflect on the role teachers have inside and outside the classroom. One of the arguments against using Generative AI for education is that these models can contain biases and factual errors. To mitigate these risks, our Chatbot tutors are monitored by teachers who supervise the learning experience. However, as these technologies evolve, it is most likely that these errors will progress, and the role of the teacher must too. 

In my opinion, the responsibility for learning should lie more with the student, with the teacher acting as a facilitator and guide in this process of self-directed discovery. The current educational model, anchored in practices that date back centuries, is crying out for reform, and I believe that AI is the perfect catalyst for this change. 

Why We Learn

Although self-directed learning is our goal, we must remember that most students will always look for the fastest, easiest way to pass an assignment. Most of us get lost in the educational process and forget that learning is an objective in itself. One of the most heard questions in a classroom is, “Why am I learning this?”. Curricula often feature fragmented and highly specialized content, making it challenging for students to grasp the purpose behind learning something so specific. Under those circumstances, pupils lose their focus and motivation.  

For instance, a student aiming to become a software engineer might struggle to see the relevance of a Creative Writing class. We know that writing and fostering communicational skills is a highly relevant ability that can prove beneficial for professionals across fields and that in their future careers, one comes to mind: newer interaction interfaces will be built on top of language, so the ability to communicate ideas effectively becomes more and more relevant. Apart from obvious ones such as having to write concise and coherent reports, answers, and explanations, to name some, that are going to be a fundamental part of their working days. This might be one of the biggest challenges modern education has: awakening curiosity. It is here where a good teacher comes into play, one who can engage the student and show them not the need to learn, but the want to learn.  

Artificial Intelligence technologies, such as Generative AI, can empower students to take control of their learning journey and explore topics based on their interests and passions. Chatbots based on a Socratic method can help students discover what they want to learn, and why they should learn it by guiding them in an introspection journey. Generative AI also makes it easier to explore all kinds of topics and fields in a dynamic and friendly way. In one three-minute conversation you can go from discovering the intricacies of human exploration of Mars to discussing the impact of the Renaissance on Art History.  

Giving students the freedom and autonomy to direct their education is a challenge, and we must focus, and try to find ways to make it possible. If Artificial Intelligence can help us be closer to a better, more interesting way of learning, then we must explore its capabilities.  

Final thoughts  

The potential for the democratization of learning through Generative AI is truly exciting. Everyone who owns a smart device could access a personalized tutor who could adapt to their needs, learning pace, interests, and curiosity. This vision of tailor-made education becomes more achievable and accessible than ever before, potentially closing achievement gaps and reducing learning inequalities. 

We must remember, however, that a well-rounded education should not count only on hard facts and figures. It should also cultivate soft skills and interpersonal relations. Human guidance possesses a subtilty that machines are yet to accomplish and might never get.  

These changing times reaffirm our mission to continue developing and improving Meetpoint. As the importance to further explore and adapt emerging technologies like Generative AI in our efforts to reshape the future of education.  

Like Greg Brockman, president of OpenAI, said in a 2023 episode of the “Possible” podcast: “It’s still a bit like science fiction, but it’s much closer to reality than it used to be.”