How did AI impact the author's teaching experience in the late '90s?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize the education system. I vividly remember the first time I encountered AI in education back in the late '90s, during my time as a math teacher in a school in London. Back then, my students were engaged with an adaptive math program on their computers, and I couldn’t help but wonder about the role of teachers in such a setting. Though the technology provided an efficient way to deliver learning content, it sparked a deep question: what role would I, as a teacher, play if AI was responsible for the majority of the learning?

That experience led me to use AI-generated data to better understand my students’ strengths and weaknesses, allowing me to differentiate my teaching and improve learning outcomes. Over time, students’ results improved significantly, and our school became part of the top 2% in value-added maths results in England. This experience laid the groundwork for my belief in the power of AI in education.

Today, AI has evolved into a truly transformative tool for learning. It can offer personalized learning experiences, help teachers understand students' progress, and even assist in areas like speech recognition, natural language processing, and computer vision. AI can address significant challenges such as learning inequity, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where many students struggle to meet basic literacy benchmarks.

However, despite its promise, many edtech solutions lack proper pedagogy and fail to address the barriers faced by underserved students. For AI to be effective in education, it must be integrated with proven teaching methods, and there must be evidence of its positive impact on learning outcomes. Some edtech platforms are starting to get it right, showing evidence of success in bridging these gaps while utilizing AI's full potential.

In conclusion, AI can profoundly impact education, but its implementation must be done thoughtfully. For AI to truly transform education, it must be paired with an understanding of the challenges, pedagogy, and a commitment to achieving measurable learning outcomes.