Exploring AI in Education: Advantages, Challenges, and Real-World Applications (2024)

Artificial intelligence or AI features such as chatbots and personalized recommendations and ads, are present on all digital platforms. Likewise, stakeholders in educational institutes are eager to incorporate AI in education to boost academic outcomes.

Besides, it is cutting-edge technology that offers varied opportunities, including new methods of communication and teaching approaches. Nevertheless, being mindful of the inherent drawbacks or pitfalls is equally important. Hence, taking a brief look at how AI enhances education is only befitting.

What is AI in education?

Artificial intelligence, or AI, in education, is the utilization of modern hi-tech mechanisms such as natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, etc. The AI techniques serve to improve teaching and learning.

Students can use different AI learning assistive tools to identify and correct errors in their assignments. On the other hand, teachers can use the tools to increase student engagement, automate administrative tasks, etc. Is that all? There are many advantages to using AI in educational initiatives; let us have a look:

Advantages of AI in Education

1. Personalised Learning

All students learning and understanding levels are not the same, yet they must strive to follow the teacher’s instruction and do well. However, they struggle to keep up with the rest of the class and falter academically.

That is where teachers can implement personalized learning with the help of AI in the following ways:

• Teachers can collect data on student learning styles, preferences, and levels and create suitable assessments.
• AI can deliver customized content depending on a student's academic history and data patterns.
• It can identify learning and knowledge gaps and provide specific learning resources to elevate their learning levels.
• It can adjust the educational content and difficulty level of the curriculum according to the students’ levels.

2. Automates Administrative Tasks

Teachers often spend a considerable amount of time tackling administrative tasks, including attendance maintenance, developing lesson plans, etc. However, AI enables faculty to automate a range of administrative tasks.

For instance, it helps grade assignments, tests, and quizzes automatically, ensuring accuracy and reducing the chances of human errors. Simultaneously, it streamlines student data input, making it easier for stakeholders to access and share information.

Furthermore, AI algorithms help create class schedules by accommodating teachers’ availability and student preferences. On the other hand, AI systems automate the attendance-tracking process through facial recognition and other methods.

Also, teachers can post assignment details and send emails and updates regarding upcoming examinations or assignment submissions.

3. Interactive Educational Content

Teaching and learning beyond textbook-oriented approaches is essential to stimulating students’ interest. That is where AI in education can provide the necessary platform to source and recommend appropriate educational content.

Multimedia-based educational content in the form of video, audio, and text offers varied ways to consume knowledge. Also, AI-powered tutoring systems provide optimized instruction according to students’ learning requirements.

In effect, it helps to facilitate an interactive learning experience for students, wherein they can track and self-evaluate their progress.

4. Higher Accessibility and Equity in Education

Geographical limitations or physical impairments often become the primary reasons why students discontinue education. However, tech-enabled mechanisms have made strides in facilitating different ways of accessing education.

In fact, AI-powered conversion tools generate content that is suitable for visually or hearing-impaired individuals. In addition, multi-lingual settings enable users to obtain learning content in different languages. Hence, all students, irrespective of learning difficulties, can access high-quality education effectively.

5. Skill Gap Analysis

"Education without skill enhancement and outcome fulfillment is incomplete" The statement is especially true in the current scenario. Employers and organizations prefer individuals who possess relevant skills and competencies.

Artificial intelligence plays a crucial role in this context by improving the overall aptitude of students through personalized learning. It performs a gap analysis of students’s skills by tracking their performance and content engagement.

AI analytics detects students’ skill levels in various areas, including reading, responding, communication, writing, reasoning, and application. In effect, it customizes the curriculum content depending on the students' responses and interactions.

6. Data-Backed Feedback

Constructive criticism is immensely helpful, as it helps students gain perspective about their performance. Therefore, AI’s data-backed system is a significant feature that allows students to get real-time feedback on their assignments, tests, etc.

Besides, it highlights the weak areas of students by identifying patterns or trends in the feedback data. An AI-enabled feedback system helps to create personalized learning pathways, helping to fulfill the learning outcomes.

7. 24/7 Tutoring

A noteworthy benefit of AI in education is that students can get timely assistance for projects, research work, assignments, etc. anytime, anywhere. For example, conversational AI assistants are perfect for one-on-one interaction.

Also, AI chatbots have modernized over the years, improving the quality of responsiveness and accuracy of answers. Therefore, they provide quick replies to queries and questions, analyze answers for correctness, etc.

What’s more, it suggests improvements in learning or study habits, assignments, tests, etc., depending on student data on previous performances.

Challenges Concerning AI in Education

AI in education provides many advantages pertaining to enhancing the teaching and learning experience. Nevertheless, certain challenges exist that prove to be bothersome, which are as follows:

Privacy

Cyberattacks, data theft, and hacking activities are prevalent issues that institutes encounter and strive to prevent. Despite incorporating necessary measures, there are instances of sensitive data leaks or theft.

Therefore, while integrating AI solutions, institutes need to choose vendors or companies that meet industry security standards. As a result, it will guarantee high security, appropriate data use, and content processing.

Equal Access

AI breaks geographical barriers and facilitates quality education anywhere in the world.

enjoy an interactive learning experience.

Besides, low-bandwidth connectivity is a major obstacle that causes technical difficulties, interrupting the flow of learning. Therefore, communities and places that already lack the necessary resources are unable to fulfill the prerequisites of AI technology.

Shift in Instructional Methodologies

Tech-enabled teaching and learning have been the latest trend that has revolutionized the way students learn. In fact, students do not need to be overdependent on teachers; likewise, teachers can incorporate AI tools to improve teaching.

Hence, it will change the role and medium of instruction, which may be a concerning matter for some individuals. The uncertainty of how an AI-driven classroom session would be might make students and teachers cautious or nervous.

Also, unfamiliarity with the technology is equally responsible for making faculty and students unsure.

Ethics

Overusing AI to rectify mistakes or rewrite assignments and paraphrase is a major concern that compromises learners’ credibility. Hence, establishing rules and regulations regarding the usage of AI tools in learning is crucial.

For instance, teachers can implement a rule stating that students can use the tool or application to review their work and not use prompts.

Real-World Application of AI in Education

AI has been making quite a difference in the education sector through its varied services and features. In the present year (2024), one can see the incorporation of AI in many learning tools to stimulate self-learning.

Translation and language learning

Students can easily access multilingual learning and instruction through AI-powered translation tools, enabling them to consume content in their preferred languages.

Moreover, a few apps utilize AI algorithms to optimize language learning for students by collecting data. In fact, it collates data on learners’s strengths, weaknesses, and learning patterns and modifies lessons accordingly.

Enhancing Writing Skills

Writing essays or assignments reflects students’ ability to express their thoughts, which remain crude and amateurish without proper guidance. AI can help improve writing skills by providing grammar and sentence-style correction instructions.

At the same time, teachers can use the tools to check for plagiarism and utilize rubrics to evaluate written assignments.

Enhances Early Childhood Education

Young students and children can learn basic and foundational concepts such as patterns, colors, and sequences through AI. In fact, AI-powered tools are useful in boosting students’ cognitive and motor skills.

In fact, students between the ages of 3 and 8 can learn essential communication skills and basic educational concepts through voice-based games and animations.

One-On-One Tutoring

Monitoring the progress of individual students and providing one-on-one attention is difficult for teachers. Nevertheless, AI tools provide real-time assistance 24/7, helping students solve queries and doubts easily.

Additionally, virtual tutors are great platforms that enable students to focus on areas that need improvement.