[ Artificial Intelligence (AI)]
in Personalized Learning
Much of the future of PL in education will depend highly on the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in this field (Groff, 2017). AI is a method by which computers through their programming are able to imitate human thought processes. Please try Google’s Quick Draw to get a sense for how AI is able to learn through what is termed a “neural network”. Through a large dataset, Quick Draw’s neural network is able to be trained to recognize human drawings, much like AI would be able to recognize student learning paths. See if you have what it takes to teach the machine, and take away an idea of how AI could help teach your students!
Click Above to Open Quick, Draw!
“What is Machine Learning and Deep Learning” by Claire de Costa is licensed under CC BY 2.0
AI is a blanket term, which we will use to cover the various AI technologies that are used in the case of PL, as demonstrated in the image to the left. AI can be seen as machines imitating human cognition; whereas, machine learning (ML) is about the program being able to learn on its own without having to program more.
In a way, AI will be the guide on the side of the original guide on the side, the teacher in the room. How this looks with regards to PL will depend on the technology chosen, and as you will see it comes in several different formats. This video, "The Rise of AI in Personalized Learning" discusses the past, present, and future of AI as told by the industry players responsible for molding the landscape of PL. You will hear about the ability of AI to notice and guide learners along a path to personalize the road map to their learning. Also, it speaks to how the future of AI in education is held in high regard as a “one-to-one” tutor, and is predicted to act as an academic advisor. Finally, you might be thinking at this point, “but what happens if the machines don’t get it right?”. Concerns around AI in education is addressed in this short video, and we hope that you share your thoughts on this outlook below in our discussion question.