AI knows everything (on the internet)

The story of “Anansi and the Bag of Wisdom” Retold by Lesley Sims, Usborne books, was about a Spider King who tried to hide a bag with all the wisdom in the world. He dropped the bag and the bag burst open. Wisdom travelled all over the world so everyone had some and no-one knew everything (A wonderful message for people to respect each other and to work with each other). The pages may have ended but did the story end? Ladies and gentlemen, I present the next chapter.

… And AI knows (more or less) everything.

Anansi had ambitions and aspirations. Anansi was despondent but not out. He was determined to regain that bag of wisdom. That evening, he worked hard, came up with a plan and went to bed promptly to ensure he had a night of sufficient sleep for the challenges ahead. The next day, he used his spider skills to build a world wide web. Once the web covered the entire world, he started working on an intelligent system to collect the wisdom and knowledge lost from the bag. He named that intelligent system “Anansi Intelligence”, or AI for short. His bag of wisdom grew and grew with the help of AI. How will Anansi apply the wisdom? And will AI itself gain consciousness and continue to serve Anansi? (The message is that one is in control of your own actions and can make your path. But at what cost?)

All you can learn buffet

Artificial Intelligence will change the way we learn. I will let AI explain.

Al said, “The impact of Artificial Intelligence in learning is immense. AI-based technologies can be used to create personalized learning experiences, identify learning gaps, reduce the amount of time and resources needed to grade assignments, detect academic misconduct, provide students with real-time feedback, and enable teachers and administrators to gain valuable insights into student performance. Additionally, AI can be used to improve accessibility in education, as AI-based technologies make it easier for students with disabilities to access educational materials and services. AI can also be used to increase the cost-effectiveness of educational resources, by reducing the amount of manual labour required to deliver content and manage educational processes. Finally, AI can be used to deliver insights into student performance, allowing teachers to better measure and improve student outcomes.”

Personalisation and learning gap identification are the two main areas which AI will assist on this website. I am excited about the personalisation that AI can bring because of the infinite possibilities and combinations between a child’s interests and the curriculum. AI can build a learning journey tailored to a child’s passion for maximising their motivation.

Learning gaps can be readily filled by AI. My PhD is broadly in Thermodynamics within the field of robotics. I can ensure that any other subjects and topics are covered to a high academic level with AI assistance, which is certainly sufficient for 13-year-olds. AI can help us learn so much more in every field.

Downsides of AI in education.

AI is still relatively new and should be used ethically and safely like everything else. Reports of Students using AI to complete the coursework will only happen more often in the future. AI is like a “Black Box” i.e. takes some inputs and provides an output without us fully understanding what is occurring inside the box. Therefore the inherent bias due to the initial dataset may not be clear. There are clear downsides to relying on AI.

• Ethical AI usage – Do not use AI to cheat. My suggestion would be an iterative approach. 0-60% of the initial work is done by the conventional human method. 61% – 90% of the work can be supplemented by AI – I.e. understanding the learning gaps. The last 91% to 100% would be to leverage the advantage that humans – i.e. Complete the work with inputs that machines cannot provide. So example, human emotional response.
• AI bias – The information is from the internet so there may be bias there. I think the magnitude and type of bias will vary by subjects. Mathematics is likely to be more neutral since there are established approaches to reach the right answers, whereas opinions on politics or ethics may be more varied. Therefore, human judgement and consideration will be required.
• Safety – The internet is a big virtual space and like a double edge sword, for every benefit there could also be potential issues. The advice here is to proceed with caution / and parental supervision.

Let’s use AI to help us to reach our full potential

In summary, AI is a powerful tool that can gather and analyse information rapidly. We must understand the “black box” approach and AI’s limitations. My education approach focuses on the individual’s interests and passions to reduce any desire to “cheat” with AI. After all, our passions and interests make us more human than machines. We have to use AI ethically and safely as AI has the potential to save time and dramatically increase learning efficiency.