“Perfect storm” of data, sophisticated machine learning algorithms and memory capacity can change the future of AI
The Covid-19 pandemic is giving the world an opportunity to consider how artificial intelligence can be used to tackle the coronavirus, as well as benefiting teaching and learning, Professor Rose Luckin told a leading technology event.
In a keynote address to the annual EdTechX conference, which was delivered digitally this year, Professor Luckin said that the industry was in the middle of a “perfect storm” of possessing masses of data, with having sophisticated machine learning algorithms to process this as well as the power and memory capacity to deliver insights.
In her address, entitled AI is here to stay but are you ready to use it to power up your business?, Professor Luckin said that during the school shutdown “millions of teachers and learners will have now used AI and their perceptions of it will have changed”. Many people will have had a positive experience and may be more willing to embrace AI in the future.
‘AI needs to be leveraged to help humanity tackle the great challenges it currently faces, but this must be done without exposing users to risk’
However, for others, the pandemic and national lockdown will have been traumatic. “Introducing more AI into schools, colleges or universities will therefore have to be done in a sympathetic and very human-centred way,” she said.
“As we grow as educational organisations we will learn to see ourselves through the AI lens,” Professor Luckin said. “Artificial intelligence must be blended with human intelligence because this is the combination that will leverage what we do.”
Professor Luckin described how she planned to build on the work done with the first EDUCATE programme, which ran for three years from 2017–2019, to offer a greater focus on technology development that uses AI. The subsequent project will continue to focus on the “golden triangle” of linking developers with educators and robust research.
She said that AI needed to be leveraged to help humanity tackle the great challenges it currently faces, but this must be done without exposing users to risk and ensuring that the technology is capable of meeting the needs of those using it.
The exposure of learners to the benefits of AI, but not the risk, was also the subject of a panel discussion at the EdTechX conference. Professor Luckin stressed that while AI had a “tremendous amount” to bring to education this needed to happen “thoughtfully and carefully”.
This meant ensuring that the public understood AI and its capabilities and were fully aware of what it meant to be passing on their personal information to organisations using AI. She said that many companies were doing good work in driving an ethical design and development agenda, but this didn’t necessarily consider whether people understood sufficiently well what they were signing up for.
A good example of this in the current climate was the Covid-19 tracking app. Professor Luckin said that people needed to know how their data could be used and shared.
“If people are going to give informed consent then they need to know there is a possibility their data will be shared. Perhaps people will be happy to do this if it is a medical app and using their data will help others. But they need to know and understand what this means, and this is a huge piece of work,” she said.
*Professor Luckin is running a series of webinars on AI Readiness, the next two taking place on 19 and 21 May — the first for educators, and the second for businesses. You can subscribe to the EDUCATE Newsletter and follow its profile on Eventbrite to keep up to date.
