"Artificial Intelligence now finds a place in educational institutions"
AI integration in learning environments has become prevalent, with students using it widely. On Tuesday night, the contributors of ZDF-Talkshow "Markus Lanz" delve into how AI can effectively be incorporated into teaching.
To craft this piece, AI was employed. There's the AI of the computer that booted up the Windows OS. There's AI in the text editing software Word, supplying grammar corrections for misspelled words. There's a program that transcribes the live speech from the "Markus Lanz" talkshow into written text for the article's author. Lastly, there's AI ChatGPT, initially utilized for research and subsequently aiding in discarding a portion of text crafted with human intelligence.
AI is no longer a luxury in our daily lives. It operates small domestic appliances to comprehend our language, wakes us up on time, or toggles on the bathroom light. Markus Lanz tries to comprehend how AI is used in schools on Tuesday night on his show.
The potential benefits of AI in learning are demonstrated by blogger Sascha Lobo employing TikTok as an example. The platform can suggest information on various topics to its users, even if they're unaware of their interest. This phenomenon is known as serendipity. Lobo asserts, "This is clearly a function of a type of AI that performs sophisticated user recognition in the background, which surpasses most people's expectations. TikTok performs this functionality better than any algorithm on this planet. TikTok learns me so well that it serves me great content from my own perspective."
The education sector in Germany is yet to reach that level. Florian Fabricius, previously the Student Lawyer and the highest student representative in Germany, highlights a significant difference. Regarding AI in schools, he opines, "When a teacher poses a question, it's quickly entered into ChatGPT, and the response is read aloud. That's the reality that's already in the classroom."
At the same time, Fabricius talks about teachers who anticipate AI to revolutionize society in the next fifteen years. It is consistently demanded that students must learn to recognize false information, discern AI. However, Fabricius presents a question: "We are currently in a position where the teachers know less than we do. We should be teaching the teachers instead." For Fabricius, the question arises, who ranks above the 18-year-old in the knowledge chain?
School Director Silke Müller acknowledges an issue: The susceptibility of teachers or administration to adapt to the changes necessitated by the use of AI. This starts with lesson planning. Yet, Müller criticizes more, saying, "We have an outdated administrative system that is 200 years old. This means: The school system no longer caters to the demands of today and tomorrow. We are grappling with a teacher shortage, archaic lesson plans, the sacred cow of federalism, which should be reevaluated so we can become more flexible and nimble." According to Florian Fabricius, teachers must learn to utilize the advantages of AI in lesson planning and enhancing general knowledge. He also insists, "What we need to do is stimulate interest so that I am constantly learning and motivated. It no longer works to force learning in school that no student worldwide believes they need, whether it's Shakespeare or anything else."
In essence, the future won't involve forcing knowledge onto students, but rather showing them what they need to learn. AI, which must eventually find its place in the classroom, assists in this, Fabricius contends. AI should be placed at the center of the classroom to leverage its benefits, he says. "And that's where I have my doubts, because the education system, because the cultural bureaucracy is so slow. But at the same time, it's the first time that change in the education system is coming from below." What he means: Students use AI without waiting for a decision from the cultural ministers' conference. "We don't wait for tablets to arrive in school - we just do it. And those above are put in a bind. And if they don't fulfill it, we do it anyway. That's the crucial question: The hierarchies are being circumvented."
Read also:
Markus Lanz explores the use of AI in schools during his ZDF-Talkshow on Tuesday night. Despite some teachers anticipating AI to revolutionize education in the future, Florian Fabricius suggests that we should be teaching teachers about AI instead. Markus Lanz's show also discusses the potential of TikTok's AI in suggesting information to users, demonstrating the benefits of AI in education.
