PEOPLE FEAR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) may soon take over our jobs, making our vocations obsolete. Already, AI has made its way into every part of our lives—think Siri, Google Translate, Waze and even those addictive, 15-second videos on our social media feeds. There are AI tools for writing essays, creating Excel formulas, drawing and designing, as well as audio editing—and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

AI is common talk in the workplace now, but have we considered how AI will impact our children? Is there a role for AI in our schools?

AI in Classrooms 

I spoke to Sathisha Goonasakaran, Tenby International School’s STEAM Coordinator, to find out how their school embraces AI. Recently, she made Bett Asia’s 2023 list of EdTech’s top 10 influential leaders.

“Teachers spend a lot of time planning and finding resources to keep lessons current and engaging. This can be challenging for them. With AI, teachers can focus on personalised, differentiated teaching, optimise their classroom management, and explore various teaching strategies,” Sathisha shared.

The teachers at Tenby International School Penang have been piloting the usage of AI tools to create lesson plans and to collaboratively brainstorm ideas for classroom activities. By exploring various tools, the school can consider how it will use AI, which will lead to the development of an AI policy for the school.

An example of an AI tool being trialled is Midjourney, a text-to-image generative AI tool to facilitate creative writing lessons. Here, the students describe an environment using their word prompts. “AI tools can be used to explore a novel's artistic elements, such as its vivid imagery, symbolism and narrative style. Then, the students get to practise interpreting the story visually and experiment with digital storytelling techniques,” says English Literature educator Aimee Collin.

Gomathi Harikrishnan, an English teacher, uses ChatGPT, Bing AI and Magic School AI to “personalise my lesson plans and create engaging materials. This not only saves time but also allows me to focus more on individual student needs,”

From the students’ point of view, the immediate feedback they get on their work shows them how they can improve. They also feel more involved in their learning because they are learning from various sources instead of just relying on the teacher. They’ll also get to understand how to use tools that are being developed today. If AI incorporation into every part of life is the future, why not let them explore it in a controlled environment first?

Establishing AI Literacy

Some parents may think, “If my child is just going to learn from computers, why am I sending them to school?” or “Is my child going to be challenged cognitively by being overly dependent on AI?”

These concerns are valid but look at it this way. In an era where AI holds abundant information, students need not memorise tons of information anymore. Instead, they must be equipped with the skills to use AI to their advantage. 

Though AI can consume, regurgitate and analyse bits of information billions of times faster than we can, it does not mean they are always true or accurate. This is known as “hallucination”, and it is one of the main flaws of AI. It can produce balderdash by making up historical records and citing non-existent books and journals. 

Then, there’s also the age-old issue of bias. AI can produce skewed data and information; it is reliant on information fed to it. For example, Amazon, the e-commerce giant, stopped using AI-powered hiring algorithms when they realised that AI favoured male applicants who use the words “executed” and “captured” in their resume.

STEAM skills to complement AI tools

As Tenby moves forward to implement AI in their lessons, they are aware of these challenges. Hence, plans to keep their teachers and students abreast of these issues are in the works. AI is now considered a priority as it complements their integration of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics).

Students today need to think critically and evaluate the information they get from AI. Questions like “Is this true?” “Is this ethical?” “How does this apply to me?” “How does this impact my society?” are what teachers encourage their students to ask. 

“STEAM provides a platform for students to contextualise their learning, reflect on it and apply their knowledge in solving real-world problems,” Sathisha said. “The traditional way of schooling is too focused on the outcome. With STEAM learning, the focus shifts to students’ learning journey and how they get to the outcome. This is done by capturing their thinking process and ability to exercise various skills.

STEAM integrates computational thinking, engineering design thinking and inquiry-based learning models to deepen creative thinking and problem-solving skills. With this model in place, AI becomes a learning partner.

AI could very well complete a student’s homework, but it won’t have anything to say about their learning.

A Future With AI

Rather than restrict the use of AI, Sathisha encourages schools to adopt it instead—in the name of capacity building. Yes, there may be initial resistance to yet another tech tool for teachers to adopt on top of their unending work, but when done correctly, AI eases the processes. She advises tech leaders in the school to create support groups for teachers where they exchange information and experience, and help one another during this transitional period.

When planning her English lessons, Dharshini Ganassegran uses AI platforms as they have been “instrumental in my personal growth, offering valuable insights into innovative teaching techniques. However, a significant challenge we face is the need to constantly keep up with rapid technological advancements.”

As for doubting parents, Malay language teacher, Meighala Krishnan recommends attending school events that showcase the magic of STEAM and AI learning to encourage curiosity and exploration in our children. Then, it will be evident to them that the sooner they learn how to make use of AI, the more informed they can be about how to use it productively and wisely.

AI is growing exponentially, and it is here to stay. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia Corp, boldly stated that, in the future, those without AI expertise will be left behind. [1] The question now: Are you and your children on board?