Revolutionising education through AI: a thoughtful approach
How can we use AI to transform education while being mindful of its limitations, pitfalls and inequities? Researchers at AUT investigate.
By Associate Professor Dilani Gedera and Chris Griffiths, AUT Business School
Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds immense potential to revolutionise education. However, with great power comes great responsibility.
As educators and learners grappling with AI, we face profound questions about equity, ethics, efficacy, and the very essence of education. How can AI be integrated into education? That question is paramount.
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As educators, we must guide students to use AI responsibly, ensuring it enhances, rather than undermines, their academic integrity. As learners, this is as much about digital citizenship as it is about getting good grades. As AI becomes prevalent in all aspects of life, these skills will be crucial for students’ future success in their professional and personal lives. It is essential, then, to explore AI’s potential and pitfalls while maintaining a cautious and deliberate approach. This is where our real-time research comes in.
The AUT AI Teaching Assistant Project: A Case Study in Cautious Innovation
As researchers at AUT Business School, we are leading an innovative AI Teaching Assistant project that embodies a thoughtful approach to AI integration. The project uses AI to make learning more effective for our students by tailoring lessons to their specific needs, by providing practical and useful feedback, and by offering interactive content that supports deeper understanding and independent learning.
Our investigation included feedback from students and lecturers in three AUT business courses – a condensed summer school, an undergraduate programme, and a postgraduate course. In designing the research, we chose an AI teaching assistant that predates the current generative AI boom. Our AI tool operates as a small-world neural network, meaning its knowledge base is strictly limited to the information we provide it. This controlled environment allows us to maintain full oversight of the AI’s capabilities and limitations, ensuring consistency across different courses and student cohorts. It also helps avoid potential biases or errors inherent in larger, more opaque AI systems. By using a well-defined AI tool, we can focus our analysis on specific educational interventions without the noise of rapidly evolving AI capabilities, providing a stable baseline for our findings. This approach allows us to draw more reliable conclusions about the impact of AI on student learning outcomes, unencumbered by the constantly shifting landscape of cutting-edge AI technologies.
So, what have we found? Over 200 students had access to the AI teaching assistant, contributing data through operational field notes, questionnaires, and qualitative interviews. The results to date demonstrate AI’s potential to transform education positively, but they also highlight the enduring importance of nuanced human judgement and intervention. For example, some students found the personalised feedback from the AI particularly valuable. One student shared, “It gave me feedback on how to improve my work… and I saw improvement in my grades.” However, we also saw evidence of variability in the quality of feedback that AI delivered. As another student noted, “It’s indecisive. You can submit the exact same document twice and get different scores.” These experiences show the need for ongoing refinement of AI tools to enhance their consistency and, therefore, their effectiveness.
Embrace AI’s Potential: Personalisation at Scale
The promise of AI in education lies in its ability to enhance student engagement and personalise learning experiences, which can lead to better academic outcomes. In our project, the AI tools proved especially effective in providing rapid, tailored feedback, which students found helpful. The immediacy of AI feedback, often delivered within a minute, allows students to make real-time improvements. One student reflected on the efficiency of AI tools, noting, “It made revision easy… I wish I had that for all my courses.” This combination of quick feedback and adaptability to individual learning needs represents a significant step forward in educational technology.
Beware AI’s Pitfalls: Equity Concerns and Workload Worries
While the potential of AI to transform education is substantial, equity is a major concern. We must ensure that AI does not exacerbate existing educational disparities but instead helps to level the playing field. The risk of creating a two-tiered education system where only some students have access to AI tools is real. To mitigate this risk, educators must not only provide equal access to AI tools but also ensure that all students have the digital literacy skills to use these tools effectively. This includes setting clear expectations in course materials and assessment frameworks and actively discussing AI’s ethical use with students.
The implementation of AI also risks adding to educators’ workloads. Striking the balance between these benefits and drawbacks is crucial for leveraging AI’s potential to enhance learning for all students while supporting educators to do their work effectively and efficiently. By fostering a culture of responsible AI use, we can complement human critical thinking while upholding academic integrity.
The Road Ahead: Charting a Course for AI in Education
The full impact of AI on tertiary education and future careers is unfolding in real time before our eyes. The integration of AI into education is not just a technological shift; it’s a societal one. As we stand on the brink of this educational revolution, the choices we make today will shape the learners and leaders of tomorrow. The question is not whether AI will change education but how we will steer that change to create a more equitable, effective, and enlightened educational landscape for all. Our research at AUT is just one step in this journey, but it’s a crucial one in understanding how to harness AI’s potential while mitigating its risks.
Chris Griffiths is a senior lecturer at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) with a unique blend of industry experience and academic expertise. His research focuses on how tempered radicals navigate hierarchical manufacturing environments, balancing personal identity with organisational success.
With a background in design, manufacturing, and supply chain management, Chris transitioned to academia in 2013. He holds an MBA in operations and management from AUT and is completing his PhD. Chris’s passion for education extends beyond the university; he continues as a trustee of schools for over 20 years, demonstrating his long-standing commitment to educational governance in New Zealand.
Dilani Gedera is an Associate Professor and Director of Learning and Teaching at the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law at Auckland University of Technology (AUT.) With over 24 years of experience in higher education, she specialises in digital education and innovative pedagogy, with a particular interest in integrating AI into educational practices. Dilani has extensive experience in programme development, curriculum design, and creating authentic learning and assessment experiences. Her research explores technology-enhanced learning, online pedagogies, and the scholarship of teaching and learning, all aimed at improving student outcomes through learner-centred approaches.
