Daisy Christodoulou, Director of Education at No More Marking, discusses AI regulation, evidence, and effectiveness in education, as well as the future of AI-powered education. Topics include AI governance challenges, the impact of AI tools on education, the importance of human interaction in learning, managing attention in the digital age, debunking myths around language models, and the guest's favorite books and films.
Attention is the primary currency of learning in the face of tech distractions.
Optimizing AI for education aims to enhance learning outcomes without compromising attention.
Public awareness of AI capabilities is crucial to prevent attention commoditization.
Deep dives
Attention as the Currency of Learning and Managing Distractions
Attention is highlighted as the primary currency of learning in the context of managing distractions from smartphones, social media, and AI technologies. The discussion delves into the challenge of helping students understand their attention and make better judgments amid the attention-grabbing strategies of tech companies. The conversation also addresses the complexities of balancing technology use for learning effectiveness while avoiding attention manipulation and over-exposure to devices.
Integration of AI in Education for Enhanced Learning
The future vision entails optimizing AI models, especially in navigating large question banks, to improve learning outcomes and efficiency in education. The goal is to integrate these AI tools effectively into classroom settings without compromising students' attention or exposure to distractions. The emphasis lies on accelerated learning and better educational experiences, aligning technology use with human flourishing.
Minding AI Misconceptions and Promoting Understanding for Future Applications
There is a call for enhancing public understanding of AI capabilities and limitations, especially concerning large language models like chat GPT, to dispel misconceptions and prevent commoditization of user attention. The future landscape envisions leveraging AI advancements, particularly in streamlining learning processes, while fostering informed AI adoption to empower individuals in navigating technological landscapes.
The Value of Embracing Traditional Learning Methods Alongside Technology
An appreciation for traditional learning methods, such as reading and writing on paper, is highlighted for their cognitive benefits and enriched learning experiences compared to digital alternatives. The discussion emphasizes the importance of embodied cognition, human-device interaction, and the potential of combining technology with traditional learning approaches to enhance educational outcomes.
Favorite Book, Movie, and Music Reveals Personal Preferences
Daisy Krista Doudin shares her love for Agatha Christie's detective novels, specifically citing 'Death on the Nile' as a favorite. She also expresses admiration for Alfred Hitchcock's film 'The Lady Vanishes,' highlighting the appeal of classic films and suspenseful narratives. Additionally, she reveals a fondness for Bob Dylan's music, particularly citing the album 'Blood on the Tracks' and the track 'Tangled Up in Blue' as favorites, showcasing a diverse range of artistic preferences.
Rose hosts Daisy Christodoulou, Director of Education at No More Marking in the EdTech Podcast Zoom studio this week, discussing AI regulation, evidence and effectiveness, and student outcomes in AI assessment, and what we think the future of AI-powered education might look like, and why!
In late March of this year, Professor Rose Luckin and Daisy Christodoulou spoke at the UK parliament’s Governance of Artificial Intelligence oral evidence session for education, and the discussion that took place was passionate and exciting. A link to the video of the session is below in the Show Notes if you’d like to watch it yourself, but a lot of ground was covered, yet not as much as they wished!
The interest in AI and its governance is very intense at the moment. The UK government had published a white paper setting out their proposed approach to the governance of AI and the indication from the paper was that rather than give responsibility for AI governance to a single new AI regulator, it intended to empower existing regulators, and that there were several that existed in the education sector already. Other points raised during the session included the idea of teaching a degree of scepticism in the public’s understanding of AI, meaning that the public should not believe everything that something like ChatGPT, a large language model, returns, for instance, when queried. Concerns about the speed of AI development were raised, there were questions on safeguarding, ethics, transparency, explainability, access to the technology, autonomy, adaptivity and more.
In today’s episode, we’d like to revisit those thoughts on AI regulation, evidence and effectiveness, student outcomes in AI assessment, and what we think the future of AI-powered education might look like and why…
Talking points and questions include:
Quality of evidence for improved student outcomes using AI
The value of assessment: how, when, why, and in what form
More discussion around the future of education with AI’s inclusion, and what we can do now