Infusing AI in Education

While it has become an everyday occurrence to hear about the use of robots and AI in yet another industry previously dominated by human workers, the use of AI in the educational sector has been highly surprising. Even as researchers debate the pros and cons of AI in other sectors, it has taken the education sector by storm.

Computer technology is being used to tailor curriculum according to the needs of students, evaluate their responses and assisting in training teachers. NAPLAN, the equivalent of American SAT, is preparing to evaluate student essays using AI. Pearson’s PTE exam (Test of English, Academic version), an English language test for fulfilling visa requirements to work or study in countries like the U.S. and Australia, is administered on and scored by computer software. PTE has shattered the notion of needing exclusively human examiners to deal with the nuances of the language.

AI software forms the heart of PTE Academic and evaluates the oral and written responses with equal or greater expertise than human examiners. This algorithm uses a database of sample responses, which teaches it to distinguish good responses from bad ones. The system judges responses based on pronunciation, tone, fluency, language usage, and diversity. The skepticism it had met with initially has vanished, and Sure Way English’s online PTE coaching program has successfully coached several students for PTE Academic.

It is estimated that in a few years, almost all competitive exams will be evaluated by computer software. This has enormous advantages, like the reduction in cost, rapid result evaluation and the complete absence of human bias. It also simplifies the process of taking a test for the current generation.

AI has taken the world of education by storm and successfully simplified the same.