The word artificial intelligence (AI) is often used, and many people assume that AI, particularly robots, will soon have the same skills and abilities as humans. This is far from the truth.
What AI mostly refers to nowadays is generative AI – the type of AI that creates new content, such as text, images, videos, and music. This means that AI trawls through all the information on the internet to meet the requested demands. However, a human is still required to determine whether the information is correct. In other words, it pays to know enough about a subject to decide the relevance and suitability of the information retrieved from the worldwide web.
One of the main beneficiaries of generative AI is the education sector and students and teachers can benefit for it.
AI allows for personalised learning, that is students can have a programme tailored to their needs. An example is the online course, Learn Business English (www.learnbusinessenglish.net) which allows for personalised learning because students can select the modules that suits them best, often as an add-on to the entire Business English course. Personalised learning also means that because students are doing things that they enjoy and from which they can benefit, they are more likely to be engaged with the learning material.
Moreover, students can study at their own pace at any time of the day or night, and have all the learning tools available at all times. At the same time, AI can allow students to access courses from anywhere, no matter how remote. Overall, therefore, students can enjoy better time management. AI also has the advantage of scalability. That is, AI means that many students can study at the same time, since there is no limit to the number of students who can do so. AI also provides consistent quality of instruction. AI-powered robots can also be developed to support learning and training activities.
From the perspective of those curating a course, AI can help to create quizzes for students, or develop games, so that interactivity, engagement and motivation are greatly improved, and often making the course more “fun”. Learning activities can also be customised. AI too can create interactive videos that can help with language practice and it can also help to create realistic business scenarios.
For teachers, AI can help assess and track the language proficiency levels of students, grade and assess their performance more quickly and easily, and allow better feedback and recommend additional resources for learners of English. AI can also encourage collaboration, matching students with study partners, if required, and therefore can help teachers build virtual language workshops. AI can also make grading and assessment easier, and track a student’s progress.
For students, the use of AI means there can be immediate feedback on exercises and quizzes, helping learners correct mistakes quickly. This is amplified by the fact that if students write, or use, business documents, AI can help write these reports and translate other documents, even suggesting new vocabulary words based on the learner’s current level. AI can also detect and correct any grammatical errors.
Overall, AI should be used to address inequalities and ensure that everyone can benefit from it, as UNESCO has pointed out.
