AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) has become one of the most significant technological advancements of the 21st century. OpenAI sent waves across the world with the launch of ChatGPT, and outside this spotlight, AI is being widely used in various fields, including healthcare, finance, and manufacturing.

Education is no exception, and will be revolutionized by AI. How do you adapt to this future?

The fears 😰

ChatGPT can write essays, solve mathematical problems, compile research and solve most of the high school homework and exams for students. It's launch in November 2022 has sent educators into panic, scrambling for ways to prevent students from cheating. ChatGPT is being banned on school networks across US, Canada, Australia and UK with other countries following suit. Besides the immediate fear of cheating, there are existential concerns too.

One high school teacher used ChatGPT to evaluate a few of his students’ papers, and said that the app had provided more detailed and useful feedback on them than he would have, in a tiny fraction of the time.

“Am I even necessary now?” he said, only half joking.

History has taught us that radical innovations are met with fear. It's understandable, because traditional systems get disrupted by the new technology.

Is banning AI the solution? It won't work.

2 reasons why banning AI won't work: As schools try to block ChatGPT, use AI fingerprinting and detectors, students, on the other hand turn to VPNs, plagiarism changers and other creative ways around these measures.

Second reason is that students need to learn how to succeed in a world with AI. The future of work will be different. We might have team-members who are not human. Does our current education prepare us to work along side them?

The path forward is to embrace AI.

The bright side ✨

Like the discovery of fire, AI put to good use can bring tremendous value:

1. Better accessibility: Students with hearing impairments can get live transcriptions of lectures.
2. Reducing illiteracy: We have made strides in democratizing education over the last 200 years. Even today, 1 in 10 people cannot read and write. AI can bridge the gap in places starved for resources and increase the reach of skilled educators.
   

1. Personalized learning: Not all students learn at the same pace. AI can identify areas of weakness, and develop learning paths based on individual needs.
2. Automate grading: which can save teachers a lot of time and effort. AI can help teachers provide faster and more accurate feedback to students, enabling them to do better.
3. Interactive learning: 3-d models, captivating visualizations, games and simulations are now accessible to teachers, creating a more immersive experience for students.

The road ahead 🛣️

Truth be told, we have mixed emotions about this. While it is exciting to see what the future of learning will look like, we also miss our good old school days. The beloved art class, writing a poem for grandma, scrapbooks might become a relic of the past. We also sympathize with teachers who are faced with this monumental responsibility of rethinking education. Change is not easy. One thing is for certain, AI is here to stay and it is up to us to do something incredible with it.