EDUCATION
Education for the age OF SINGULARITY
The possibilities for AI in the workplace are endless but it’s also changing the way we learn. Ledetta Asfa-Wossen reports.
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045 will be the year collective machine intelligence surpasses humans, according to futurist Ray Kurzweil. An evolution named by some as the singularity. But beyond the countless
predictions lie challenges and opportunities for education. At the recent Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai,
Harry Patrinos, education manager at the World Bank spoke on how automation in the workplace will impact learning quality and the skills children require. He noted that while industry was entering a fourth industrial revolution, education was stuck in first gear. “This is an exciting time, but the sobering news is that most
education systems are not prepared for what’s ahead of us. Industry is moving forward but education is slow to catch up. The race is being led by technology and we need to arm our educators for any real and sustainable change.”
Robotics in disguise Yao Zhang, CEO and co-founder of Roboterra, a US robotics
education company based in Silicon Valley, California, passionately spoke on the use of robotics in learning. Roboterra distributes robotics kits to 10-18 year olds in schools to empower young makers to build and program their own robots and develop their design skills through an innovative online learning platform. Ms Zhang is a firm believer that robotics allows students to engineer, code and apply design principles to seek creative solutions
to problems in a more collaborative way. There are potential benefits for teachers too. Roughly 80 per
cent of a teacher’s time is spent on administration and transferring knowledge and only around 20 per cent on emotional development. Ms Zhang argues AI can help evaluate school students more effectively and will let teachers focus on what many enjoy most – relationship building and the emotionally rewarding side of their role. Trials to assess how children learn and if they can do so more
effectively with AI assistance have been conducted to some degree by Pearson and University College London. Princeton University, USA, recently told McKinsey & Company it will be using MRI scans next semester on students to trial AI and understand how they learn. Princeton will look at how many times a student views a portion
of a lecture, how quickly they understand a concept and what parts of learning they struggle with. These findings could create more personalised learning that helps individuals learn quicker. A near impossible task for teachers to achieve for every child at scale. But there are some academics that warn customised or
personalised learning could widen inequalities. Also, that the wider introduction of AI may lead to children learning in less social classrooms – either remotely or in smaller, specialised centres depending on their level. Instilling a reliance on technology so early could also have its downfall if or when these technologies fail. The global business value derived from AI is expected to hit
34 | Relocate | Summer 2018
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