Will AI replace Teachers? — Views from Ireland, Luxembourg, and Singapore

Written by Dr Niamh MC NALLY (Ireland), Mr Jean-Claude JUNG (Luxembourg) and Mr Daniel LEE (Singapore)

ASEFEdu (Editor)
ASEFEdu (Blog)
4 min readApr 3, 2020

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This article is part of a series on the topic “Will AI replace Teachers?” written by the participant teachers of the #ASEFClassNet15 Conference, coming from 51 #ASEM countries. Check out the introduction essay here! Find more information about the conference here!

A teacher in a classroom with his students in Ochanomizu University Senior High School, Tokyo, Japan (taken during the study visit of ASEF ClassNet15 Conference)

Artificial intelligence (AI) may be defined as intelligence demonstrated by machines, aimed at perceiving the surrounding environment and implementing actions to successfully achieve its goals. Colloquially, this may be understood to refer to computers or relevant technologies that emulate the cognitive functions normally associated with human intelligence, such as learning and problem-solving.

As such, an overlap exists with schooling and education, which is generally positioned to prepare our pupils for life in the wider society, and impart to them the skills needed for learning and problem-solving. With AI being an ever-more omnipresent aspect of life in the developed world today through its various manifestations in the form of Google Translate, Google Maps, or Photomath, we propose that AI may not replace teachers, but rather augment the way teaching and learning is conducted in schools. That said, AI could serve as a viable means by which children in challenged neighbourhoods access learning opportunities on an equitable basis, and in the process, serve as a substitute for the absence of teachers.

Given the diametrical opposition of machine intelligence to natural human intelligence, we believe that there will always be a need for face to face interaction between the teacher and student if individual students’ learning needs are to be met, just like how one would be better served to see an actual qualified medical doctor for one’s malaise to obtain a proper diagnosis rather than googling online for answers to one’s ailments. In our opinion, AI can definitely assist the teacher and hopefully transform strategies for teaching and learning, but cannot effectively replace the sociological aspects of interaction between teacher and students, given human’s social nature. While subjects such as scientific inquiry may be expedited through the use of AI in a virtual lab, experimental outcomes often require actual human experiments to provide a basis for programming, suggesting that real discovery and progress would still need human intervention.

As such, human teachers are here to stay in schools.

About the authors:

Dr Niamh MC NALLY, Teacher and Teacher Educator, Loreto Secondary School Balbriggan, Ireland
Niamh is a teacher in one of the largest ‘all girls’ schools in Ireland, Loreto Secondary School Balbriggan. She holds a PhD in the field of Genetics and has spent a number of years in genetic research before turning her attention to secondary science education. She is currently the Head of Science and Tutor for Science Mastery and Biological Teaching Methodologies for the professional Masters of Education at Hibernia College Dublin. She has a particular interest in mentoring and encouraging female students to enter and compete in national and international science competitions and fairs. Niamh is an alumna of the ASEF ClassNet.

Mr Jean-Claude JUNG, Chemistry Teacher, Lycée classique Diekirch, Luxembourg
Jean-Claude is a Chemistry Teacher in Diekirch, Luxembourg at the Secondary School Lycee classique de Diekirch. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering from Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) in Louvain-la-Neuve (B) and a Master’s degree in Chemistry from Louis Pasteur University Strasbourg (F), and is specialised in Environmental Sciences in Arlon (B) at the Fondation Universitaire Luxembourgeoise. He worked as an independent consultant for a tyre company before embarking on his Teacher’s degree in 2004.

Mr Daniel LEE, Humanities Teacher, Jurong Secondary School, Singapore
Daniel is currently a Humanities Teacher at Jurong Secondary School in Singapore. He is an avid proponent of ICT platforms to facilitate the teaching of geographical concepts, and has also developed professional resources for gamification of learning. As an advocate of the Applied Learning Programme (ALP), Daniel and his team pioneered the development of a multi-disciplinary curriculum for Environmental Studies, for which they were awarded the Ministry of Education Innergy Award for innovation in 2019. He has also mentored younger generations of passionate environmental researchers over the years, on themes ranging from invasive plant species to marine microplastics for Singapore’s national database. Daniel received his Master’s Degree in Humanities Education in 2019.

NOTE:
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely by the author(s) and do not represent that of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)​.
Copyright © 2020.

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