Opinion What AI could do in the classroom

Eckhart Tolle has written of the flowering of human consciousness through a shift in education, where we should combine intelligence and consciousness. Intelligence is the ability that helps us apply knowledge, solve problems, and adapt to new situations. It also enhances reasoning, decision-making, and memory; in fact, it is a blend of artificial and biological (human) intelligence systems. Consciousness brings in metacognition, introspection, imagination, emotions, and sensory perceptions, which are tied to humans.

Schools have to ensure that human consciousness becomes integral to the connections between intelligence and learning. Only then will we be able to develop a shared understanding of citizenship, interdependence, and mutual interest. This will build cohesive societies, bring in social and economic institutions, and integrate universal values and processes, which can only be learnt in a school.

AI has forced itself into the education agenda as never before, and the responses are still emergent and unclear. What is clear is that every child, irrespective of place or status, must have access to adaptive learning and AI. Educators have anticipated the importance of AI for over a decade, but the actual impact in schools was felt only with the launch of ChatGPT. Students showed great enthusiasm for the opportunities the tool offered — using it to support homework, research papers, projects, case studies, and other academic tasks. They were able to make submissions without any effort or understanding. The response of educators has been slow and hesitant because the technology carries immense implications in the space of learning. Teachers are particularly nervous about AI hallucinations.

It is clear from UNESCO’s reviews that very little work has been done to reassess the competencies needed by teachers to understand and use AI for teaching and learning, personalising data for their professional growth, determining how students are learning, and identifying content that excites or disengages them. We need to create learning ecosystems by fostering collaborative relationships with the surrounding community, especially parents and other government agencies. For this we must unlock the learning assets of communities and engage with stakeholders beyond the education sector.

In order to prepare for a brittle, anxious, nonlinear, and incomprehensible (BANI) future — as formulated by anthropologist and futurist Jamais Cascio — schools will have to do scenario planning without making a commitment to any particular prediction. We must imagine several futures simultaneously. All will be plausible. Let us equip ourselves to make decisions that will be robust no matter what future comes to pass.

The real hope for enduring change in schools lies with students. They are connected to the future in ways that no adult is, for in the words of Khalil Gibran, “Their thoughts dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.”

As we move forward as educators, let us continue to refine our vision and get a clearer awareness of a constantly changing reality. We have to evolve institutions and practices that assist, not replace, the natural learning process through collaborative intelligence.

The writer is chairperson and executive director, Education, Innovations, and Training, DLF Foundation Schools  and scholarship programmes