How ChatGPT Is Changing Education

Educators just started recovering from the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some studies assess that the learning loss may never be recovered. However, a new challenge has crashed on the shores of education – AI – which could be even more impactful. In this post, we look at the challenges that AI brings to education, some ideas, and steps being taken.

A look at the newly announced Generative AI guidance from UNESCO, and others. An explanation of what they mean for application.

The Generative AI Guidance From UNESCO

Earlier this month – UNESCO, The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, released their first Guidance on Generative AI for Education. This document covers several areas

• A basic definition of Generative AI and some historical context – particularly regarding the origins of ChatGPT as a progression of several models leveraging the foundational Transformer technology.
• Concerns about Generative AI in education – from shorter-term concerns such as cheating to longer-term concerns such as further expansion of the digital divide (where countries with less ability to develop such models or feed them with massive datasets will find themselves further marginalized) and whether these models will try to usurp human roles and replace human creativity.
• Pointing out that regulation is already behind these developments (ChatGPT reached 100 million users in Jan 2023 while, as of July 2023, only one nation has released regulations to address the topic). Given the expectation that regulation will realistically always be outpaced by technology development in this space – the document outlines several coping strategies, from monitoring to education.
• The need to educate students and teachers on both how these AIs work as well as how these AIs can be leveraged to improve education. The need to create EdGPT – a series of foundational models focused on assisting education.

Other Guidances

There are many guidances for Generative AI being issued these days. Another notable guidance is that issued by OpenAI for ChatGPT. This document, targeted at educators, covers ideas for how to use ChatGPT in teaching. Examples include exercises that teachers can do with students, example teaching strategies, etc. It does note that ChatGPT can generate incorrect information.

Making Sense of All the Guidance – My Takeaways

Even these two examples illustrate just how vast the scope of impact for education is from these technologies.

• These two guidances, while both from key organizations – are targeting very different audiences. The UNESCO Guidance shows the need for governments, countries, and organizations to consider the long-term impact of AI on education. The OpenAI Guidance shows the variety of ways in which even today’s ChatGPT can be used in Education and the depth and scope of that topic alone.
• The two guidances also illustrate that virtually every human – whether it is a government leader, a teacher, a school official, a student, or a parent, has decisions to make regarding how Generative AI will be used in their lives and their communities.
• The skills debate. Beyond the immediate guidance lies a much larger question. When ChatGPT (and others like it) ace or pass many of the tests we usually use to assess human skills and knowledge – what will the jobs of the future look like? What skills will be needed? And how will education systems pivot as fast as the technology is developing? Will the cost be a generation of children unprepared for the jobs that await them?

I expect that the next few years will be even more challenging for education than even the COVID-19 pandemic was. AI will infuse every aspect of education. All teachers and students will need to learn AI, and their communities and countries will need to help them understand how to shape the next generation of human minds to thrive in its presence.