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64 The Management Accountant - May 2020 www.icmai.in
COVER STORY
Abstract
Today, articial intelligence is one of the emerging
technologies which are capable of altering every aspect
of our social interactions. In education, AI has begun
producing new teaching and learning solutions that are
now undergoing testing in different contexts. This paper
will let the stakeholders in education sector to understand
the extent to which AI will be used in the education and its
perceived benets. This paper provides examples of use of
AI in education, particularly in developing countries like
India wherein providing education to all is seen as one of
the sustainable development goals.
First, this paper provides an overview of AI to the
reader. It was observed that AI has evolved from simple
rule based systems to data-driven systems to context-
driven systems that have advanced capabilities. Next,
the paper talks an approach to putting AI into use in
education to improve learning outcomes. Indeed as a
new technology, AI when used in education will bring
changes to ‘learning experience’ by having adjustable
learning environment that creates ‘personalized learning
experience’. Finally, this paper presents some examples
of use of AI technology in education sector aimed at
improving learning experience and quality of learning.
CMA (Dr.) Ashok Panigrahi
Associate Professor
NMIMS University, Shirpur
Dr. Vijay Joshi
Assistant Professor
Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Management
Studies & Research, Nagpur
USE OF ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE IN
EDUCATION
www.icmai.in May 2020 - The Management Accountant 65
COVER STORY
Introduction
MME AUDREY AZOULAY, DIRECTOR-
GENERAL, UNESCO writes “In the eld of
education, AI is expected to have a signicant
impact, transforming the way teachers
work by offering new teaching aids. It could revolutionize
the way in which students learn through personalised
learning and through greater access to knowledge thus also
potentially facilitating more inclusive education. Clearly, the
possibilities are tremendous.” (UNESCO MGIEP, 2018) [1]
Traditional Education System limits Personalized
Learning
Recent research in neuroscience has demonstrated that
each brain is ‘wired uniquely’ and thus ‘learns differently’.
Our traditional education is ‘standard’ in nature and is focused
on curricula geared towards producing a workforce for mass
industrial deployment and have implemented the ‘one size
ts all’ approach (Singh and Jain, 2018) [2]. Unfortunately,
this has led to the following undesirable results:
• Many individuals trained but unable to adapt to
changing job requirements.
• Little consideration for natural talent, thereby killing
creativity.
• Little or no love for learning.
• Unhappy, frustrated youth.
Consequently, the current education system nds itself
broken, insufcient and ineffective at meeting the demands
of the 21st century. The resurgence of Articial Intelligence
or AI, however, offers a ray of hope in achieving such a
‘personalised learning system’.
What in Articial Intelligence?
Singh and Jain (2018) [2] writes “The term Articial
Intelligence or AI was coined by John McCarthy in 1956,
two years after the untimely death of Alan Turing, who came
to be known as the father of AI. In 1950, at a time when
the rst general purpose computers were being built, Turing
was already grappling with the question “Can machines
think?” He developed a hypothetical machine, called a
Turing machine, for encrypting codes built to test and
denes Machine Intelligence and thus refers to computer
programs that exhibit human-like intelligence such as logical
reasoning, problem solving and learning”.
It may be noted that AI systems has evolved over the time
within the framework described above. A historical review
of the evolution of AI systems reveals that they appear to
have followed a different process – one that has been driven
by algorithm and technology development (Singh and Jain,
2018) [2].
Framework for Articial Intelligence
Singh and Jain (2018) [2] suggest following framework
for AI that comprises of following aspects. These are:
• Perception – The ability to use sensory systems and
language to obtain information about the natural
world.
• Problem analysis – The ability to process the
information obtained above in order to identify a
problem, analyze it and provide a solution.
• Abstract knowledge – The ability to abstract
knowledge from perception in one domain and apply
it to another.
• Experiential learning – The ability to continually learn
from real-world data patterns and rene perception
and knowledge.
Articial Intelligence or AI provides predictions on new
scenarios based on learning from large volumes of historical
data. It is required to take a holistic look at a range of digital
transformation in the education sector. These are augmented
reality, virtual reality, videos and blockchain. AI and other
digital technologies should be used to help teachers in
imparting education (Sarkar, 2018) [3].
How AI can be put to use in education?
It is advised to have an approach of educating people
about use of AI by preparing people to work and live with AI
and then use AI in planning educational and training systems
(Luckin and Issroff, 2018) [4].
Source: (Luckin and Issroff, 2018) [4]
It may be noted that thoughtful design of AI framework to
education and training has the potential to provide signicant
benets to educators, learners, parents and the society. It is a
reason for great excitement and concerted intelligent effort.
Changes that AI technology will bring in the education
sector
Indeed as a new technology, AI when used in education
will bring changes to the entire ‘learning’ experience’.
There are only a few things that forced transitions in the
global education industry to change and are as listed below
(Blaylock, 2019) [5]:
• Adjustable Learning Environment
• New Opportunities
• Improved Efciency
• AI-driven Education Platform
Articial intelligence, with such changes in the education
sector that enhances learning may be seen as one of the
emerging technologies.
66 The Management Accountant - May 2020 www.icmai.in
COVER STORY
Views of Indian Industry Representatives on use of AI
in education
Articial intelligence is the sector with untapped potential.
Shobita Dhar provides some of the comments made by
representatives of some of the Indian organizations those are
working in the area ‘Use of AI in Education’. (See the table
below).
Table 1: Opinions by representatives of some of the Indian
organizations those are working on ‘Use of AI in Education’
(Dhar, 2019) [6], (Dialani, 2019) [7]
Name of the
Organization
Representative
Opinions expressed by the
Organization Representative
Sameer Bora,
Executive VP,
Next Education
India Pvt. Ltd.
Adaptive assessments give very
accurate results. Based on these the
teacher can give individual feedback
to each child on what should be the
new learning path. Earlier, students
would get a general advice – ‘Good.
Can do better’. But AI allows
teachers to be more focused.
Swapnil
Dharmidhikari,
Founder,
Splashgain
Technology
Solutions Pvt.
Ltd.
Remote Proctoring is the future
monitoring of exams. The technology
captures physical movements of the
candidate. If the candidate tries to
open a new window or an URL it
immediately sends an alert to the
remote invigilator. In the future
physical invigilation will be replaced
with digital invigilation.
Prashanth B.
R., Co-Founder,
Krackin and
Kiran G. R., Co-
Founder, Krackin
Algorithms replace mentors in
providing customized learning. AI
enables students to discover a unique
path of learning, customised to their
aspiration and capabilities. At present
it’s being used in 89 colleges, and by
300+ companies.
Sreedhar Narla,
CEO-Founder,
ICET Solutions,
Bengaluru
Mobile App making attendance
register redundant. Traditional
attendance takes about 10 minutes,
but this app can do the task in one
minute. The teacher takes a couple
of shots with her phone camera, the
images are processed in the cloud and
the attendance marked.
Zishaan Hayath,
Co-Founder and
CEO, Toppr
At Toppr, we use both AI and AI to
layout the learner’s characteristics
and inadequacies. Singular learning
rates and records are pondered. These
tests are planned to help a child’s
trust in zones they surpass desires
in and challenge them in areas they
don’t. This comprehensive technique
empowers children to remain
energized and spurred.
Source: (Dhar, 2019) [6], (Dialani, 2019) [7]
Finally, this paper will present some examples of use of AI
technology in education sector aimed at improving learning
experience and quality of learning.
Prominent Examples of Use of AI Technology in
Education
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (CODE 417) -
CURRICULUM FOR CLASS IX (INSPIRE AND
ACQUIRE MODULE) - CBSE
An example of this is provided by Central Board of
Secondary Education – CBSE. It is said that CBSE Schools
to include AI, Python for Class 8 and 9 Students from 2020
(CBSE, 2019) [8].
Example of a curriculum for Standard 9 Student
Source: (CBSE, 2019) [8]
Other Examples of Use of AI Technology in Education
According to research organization Tracxn, it is observed
that in excess of 300 Indian new businesses use AI as their
core and invention in their organization. About one tenth
of them (11%) are belonging to ‘learning and teaching’
domain. This is a strong sign of organizations outside
of innovation and web based business using AI in their
products and services. While a conclusive goal is whole
customization, various applications and ventures are
helping us in transit. Coaching applications are adjusting
their exercise structures depending upon the execution of a
stand-out client prole. Expanded information crunching
is making trying an undeniably intuitive wonder in India.
(Dialani, 2019) [7]
There will be number of examples about use of AI in
education. Some of these are provided herewith. Please note
that this list is indicative only and is not exhaustive. (See the
table below).
www.icmai.in May 2020 - The Management Accountant 67
COVER STORY
Table 3: Some of the examples about use of AI in education
Name of
Author Example and its description
Sarkar
(2018) [3]
AI offering help to teachers in imparting
education and can be used for predicting
student potential as well as chances of at-
risk students dropping out. This information
would be valuable for teachers in targeting
specic interventions for at-risk students.
The state of Andhra Pradesh had conducted
a pilot to predict drop-outs based on past
student scores and student backgrounds.
Dhar (2019)
[11]
Personalized Learning using adaptive
assessment software: Class VIII students of
Mount Zion School, Gangtok are writing
exams set by a machine. They get questions
customized to their pace of learning.
Machine-set question papers that use
AI: Next Education, an edtech company
in Hyderabad, developed an AI driven
assessment platform that is used by more
than 50 schools in India. This platform can
set papers within one minute and customize
questions to each student’s learning needs.
It also gives instantaneous results.
Exams at your doorstep: Remote Proctoring
is an AI platform that allows teachers to
remotely invigilate an online exam. This
means that students don’t need to physically
assemble in an exam hall to write their
paper but can do it from anywhere, even
from home. This reduces the logistical
burden of conducting and writing exams.
IIM, Rohtak used Remote Proctoring while
conducting its executive MBA entrance
exam this year.
Mobile App making attendance register
redundant: In some government-run schools
in Tamil Nadu, the attendance register was
replaced by a mobile app.
Conclusion
In order for AI based products to be contextualized,
commoditized, and available to wider, diverse audience, a
rich set of tooling, standards, and best practices are required.
The potential of personalised quality education, regardless
of geographical, socio-cultural and other afliations etc.., by
means of AI and Deep Learning, is recognised. However,
a sustained, coordinated effort to address them holistically,
from pedagogical to experiential to business to ethics
and governance angles, is required (Dhavala, 2018) [9].
Concerted efforts are needed to develop:
• Data-rst platforms
• Shared NLU (Natural language Understanding) and
AI infrastructure and
• Agile processes to develop AI products.
These products should eventually be used to create
customised, relevant, engaging, explainable and governable
solutions for every learner.
It may be concluded that there exists several AI-based
products those are used in education sector at present. These
examples indicate that there is scope for using AI and other
emerging technologies supported with adequate research
and innovation.
The author is of the opinion that concentrated efforts are
required by all the stakeholders in ‘Education’ sector so as
to understand, accept and use AI based products beneting
them (as applicable).
References
1. UNESCO MGIEP. (2018). Articial Intelligence and
the Future of Education: Exploring how Articial
Intelligence can take Learning to a whole new level,
Published by United Nations Educational, Scientic and
Cultural Organization and Mahatama Gandhi Institute
of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development.
Available from: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/
pf0000366389. [Last accessed on 2020 March 18].
2. Singh Nandini Chatterjee and Jain Raunak. (2018).
Personalizing ‘Learning’ - Can AI Promise Customised
Education for ‘Humanity’. It is cited by (UNESCO MGIEP,
2018) [1].
3. Sarkar Avik Dr. (2018). Interview with Dr. Avik Sarkar,
Head – Data Analytics Cell at NITI Aayog, Govt. of India.
It is cited by (UNESCO MGIEP, 2018) [1].
4. Luckin Ross and Kim Issroff. (2018). Future of Education
and Skills 2030: Conceptual Learning Framework.
Education and AI: preparing for the future & AI, Attitudes
and Values. Eighth Informal Working Group (IWG)
Meeting, 29-31 October 2018, EDU/EDPC (2018) 45 /
ANN2. OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development) Conference Centre, Paris, France.
5. Blaylock Jeff. (2019). The top ve changes that occur with
AI in Education, December 18, 2019. Available from:
https://www.analyticsinsight.net/the-top-5-changes-that-
occur-with-ai-in-education/. [Last accessed on 2020
March 18].
6. Dhar Shobita. (2019). Articial intelligence in classroom:
Is it reducing human interaction in learning? – Times
News Network, December 11, 2019. Available from:
https://timesondia.indiatimes.com/spotlight/heres-how-
coventry-university-is-redening-education-globally/
articleshow/74650839.cms/. [Last accessed on 2020
March 18].
7. Dialani Priya. (2019). Use of AI and VR in the Indian
Education Sector, March 30, 2019. Available from: https://
www.analyticsinsight.net/use-of-ai-and-vr-in-the-indian-
education-sector/. [Last accessed on 2020 March 18].
8. CBSE. (2019). AI Integration Manual prepared by CBSE.
Articial Intelligence Integration across Subjects for CBSE
Curriculum. Available from: http://cbseacademic.nic.in/
web_material/Curriculum20/AI_Integration_Manual.pdf/.
[Last accessed on 2020 March 23].
9. Dhavala Soma. (2018). Articial Intelligence for
Education. It is cited by (UNESCO MGIEP, 2018) [1].
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