Artificial intelligence in education: ethical applications

It is a fact that the use of artificial intelligence in education has been increasing in recent months. But not just in the EdTech sector.

Nowadays, on any social network, we can find examples of chats that respond in a text to (almost) everything you ask or applications that can generate pictorial representations unimaginable for a human being.

All this has only opened a new debate in the educational community: Is the use of artificial intelligence in education positive or negative? Shouldn’t there be ethical control of its applications?

At Smowltech, as digital optimists that we are, we believe that, in the long run, its use will leave us many positive things as long as we give it an ethical and adequate use.
But for you to have an idea and be able to also participate in this debate, we wanted to collect in a post the advantages and ethical technological applications that artificial intelligence in education could have.

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What is Artificial Intelligence in Education?

The first thing we must make clear is what we mean when we talk about artificial intelligence in education.

As such, artificial intelligence (AI) is a machine’s ability to imitate human intelligence in tasks such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making.

In the case of the education sector, when we talk about AI, we refer to the use of artificial intelligence technologies and algorithms to improve and personalize students’ learning.

Artificial intelligence and ethics: the benefits of artificial intelligence in education

If there is anything that all the actors within the education sector must ensure, it is that the application of artificial intelligence in education is always designed from an ethical point of view.

For example, we must ensure that these technologies do not perpetuate discrimination and contribute their advances to digital inclusion.
It is also essential to ensure that students understand how technology works and its limitations.

Ethical AI in education examples

As we have already mentioned, at Smowltech, we see several benefits to this type of technology when applying it ethically. These are some of them.

Customization of learning materials

Artificial Intelligence allows educational systems to personalize the learning experience for each student, adapting to their individual needs and preferences.

Improvement in efficiency

This technology can also help identify patterns and trends in learning data, allowing teachers to make more informed decisions on improving their teaching methods.

Accessibility

AI makes education more accessible by providing students with more online and remote options and resources, allowing them to learn at their own pace.

Enriching interaction

Some types of AI in the educational sector can also be used to create more interactive and playful learning environments, motivating students and improving their knowledge retention.

With this common goal, it will be interesting to see if virtual reality and artificial intelligence can go hand in hand.

Data analysis

AI systems can quickly analyze large amounts of performance data. They can also detail students’ preferences, helping the teaching team provide more personalized feedback and improve pedagogical decision-making.

Automated assessment

AI can be used to automate the evaluation and correction of tasks and exams, saving time and resources and allowing teachers to focus on other tasks.

Recommendation on the ethics of artificial intelligence: it also needs to be safe

Although AI can be a handy tool in the pursuit of a more democratized education and digital equity, we must also consider that, like all emerging technology, it has a back door through which security problems may arise.

Let’s look at some examples:

• As we have seen in previous sections, AI often feeds on large amounts of personal data, which can be a risk to the privacy and security of users if used improperly or leaked.
• AI models can be biased based on the training data used, which can have a negative impact on decision-making and social justice.
• Moreover, AI systems can be vulnerable to attacks and exploits due to design or implementation errors.
• Finally, we should note that students can take advantage of these new technologies to cheat when doing assignments or exams.

Concerning the latter point, proctoring can become a great ally of companies and institutions in preventing this trickery.

Interestingly, SMOWL proctoring tools also make use of AI to help verify the identity of students and detect possible tricks and frauds.

As you can see, AI protects against potential tricks based on AI itself, such as using the popular ChatGPT in student exams.

Before this, SMOWL provides software that allows you to know what browser tabs or applications the user is using or if they have copied content from any of them during an exam taken on a computer, remotely, or in person. If you want to know how it works and if it can be interesting for your institution or company, you can request a free demo from us.

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