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Will AI destroy our education system?

Published : Saturday, 7 September, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 318
Pranto Chatterjee
The more AI diffuses into other fields, the louder the question rings: what does it portend for education? Will it revolutionize the classroom with more efficiency, more personalization, or erode the very foundations of human learning? It is not a debate about technology; it is a question about the very nature of learning, thinking, and, in the end, humanity. In a day when AI can write essays, solve equations, and even teach languages, one is forced to ask whether this is the future we want our children to experience or whether we are walking into a trap that makes education dehumanizing.

The temptation of AI in education is quite irresistible. Proponents argue that AI can tailor learning experiences to individual needs, thus providing personalized instruction that no human teacher could ever do. Imagine being in a class where every student gets immediate feedback, lessons are tailored to a student's comprehension in real time, and access to educational materials is possible 24/7. This may be a godsend in Bangladesh, where access to educational materials is often at a premium. AI might democratize high-quality education, reaching students across rural areas who currently don't have qualified teachers.

But this vision of utopia completely forgets the very essence of human learning. Learning is not simply a question of information intake, but it is one of development of skills, creativity, and building thinking ability-all processes that require struggle, effort, and sometimes failure-elements which AI, by its very nature, seeks to minimize or bypass. It is of course dangerous that AI can make learning all too easy, all too automated, thereby depriving students of those tangle some challenges through which alone true intellectual development occurs.
Consider the case of students who use GPS to get around campus. Without a need to develop a sense of direction, they become utterly dependent on their technology and are at a loss when it no longer serves them. Similarly, AI tools like ChatGPT give quick answers but do not teach the process to arrive at them. The "productive challenge" is missed out on when students use AI to solve problems; that productive challenge means the mental effort one needs in comprehensively grasping an idea, which is where real learning actually takes place. That is a process that cannot be emulated through an algorithm.

From this base, it is pretty safe to assume that AI will continue to further exacerbate such problems in Bangladesh, where rote learning and a lack of critical thinking already plague the education system. The current system rewards students for memorizing information and then regurgitating that knowledge in exams rather than rewarding understanding or creativity. AI will only further reinforce this toxic approach by making it easier for students to bypass the hard work of learning. That is to say, the emphasis on grades and outcomes over the process of learning would be amplified, in that students use AI to get better grades without necessarily learning anything.


The second point is that AI does not have that intuitive sense that a human teacher will have in a classroom setting. Some of the best teachers pick up on cues that a student might be struggling-not because of the answers being given, but because of the way the question was asked, including body language, the tone of voice, and other factors. They are able to make adjustments in teaching methods in ways that AI alone cannot. At its core, AI is a data-processing tool informed by statistical probability, spewing out outputs. It does not understand the qualitative nature of human learning-that emotional and psychological underpinning of knowledge which underlies every part of learning.

Quantitative versus Qualitive: herein lies the imperative difference. Humans consider the relationship between something and its context for meaning. Where human thought is multilayered, integrated, and holistic, AI processes information in a linear, binary manner. This fundamental difference in how humans and AI perceive and interact with the world raises serious questions concerning the role of AI in education. Is a machine capable of teaching that cannot understand the nuances of human thought? Or will it reduce education to a question of inputs versus outputs, devoid of that richness that can only be achieved by human interaction and creativity?

The philosophical implications are huge. Education is not training; it builds minds, develops the capacity for critical thought, and encourages creativity leading to innovation. What kind of future are we building if we turn these processes over to AI? Will we end up with a generation of students who can pass tests and carry out tasks, but who have lost the ability to think for themselves? Will AI, in its effort to make learning more efficient, strip away all of the very things that make education worth having?

In Bangladesh, where stakes are high, these questions are more than theoretical. The country is at an edge where an educational revolution in terms of access to digital tools and resources is highly increasing. However, such a transition needs to be carried out with due care. Introduction of AI within the education system should not come at the cost of human elements essentially coming into play in learning. We need to ensure that AI serves as a complement rather than a replacement for human teachers and the human mind.

The promise of AI in education is beguiling, but we must have caution. We stand at a crossroads; we should be asking ourselves: what do we really value from an education? A system optimized for throughput and ease, or one that expects depth of thinking and creativity from our students? It is a question whose answer shall determine not only the future of our system of education but also our society in general.

The real risk that AI creates in education is not that it takes the place of teachers, nor that it makes learning more efficient than ever, but it corrupts the very essence of what learning actually means. Unless we are very watchful, we may attain a situation in which students become technically equipped with technology but lose their resourcefulness in critical thinking and creativity-qualities that have defined human intelligence through the ages. The challenge is how Bangladesh, and the world for that matter, can harness the full power of AI without losing all those human values that education is supposed to inculcate. Then alone can we hope that AI saves our education system and does not destroy it.

The writer is an M.Tech student at IIT Ropar and writes about complex environmental, technical and geopolitical issues



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