Unit 2: Future Impact of AI

Positive Impacts

1. Artificial Intelligence needs to be used alongside students and teachers.

Engage with generative AI tools with your students in person, when possible. Otherwise, share AI-generated responses to questions during class time and ask students to consider them or have students experiment with the technology at home, document their experiences, and share them with the class. Having students critically think in classrooms due to AI asking questions or have other important info can bring positive change.

Positive Feedback Loop: AI can increase the quality and quantity of feedback provided to students and teachers, as well as suggesting resources to advance their teaching and learning. AI could help teachers stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in their field. For example, a biology teacher would have AI update them on the latest breakthroughs in cancer research, or leverage AI to update their curriculum.

AI has the potential to enhance the teaching and learning experience by providing personalized learning, automating administrative tasks, and improving student outcomes.

Students and teachers can speak, gesture, sketch, and use other natural human modes of communication to interact with a computational resource and each other. AI can generate human-like responses, as well. These new forms of action may provide supports to students with disabilities.

2. Teach students how not to be replaced by AI

Rather than viewing AI as replacing human roles, educators must leverage technology to amplify student learning in innovative ways. Harouni advocates that teachers guide students to critically evaluate AI-generated information, asking follow-up questions no robot could formulate independently. By modeling how to probe biased frameworks and incomplete answers, instructors teach vital skills AI lacks - layered reasoning, conceptual nuance, and interrogating the significance of "right" responses. Instead of directly providing ChatGPT results on a topic, educators should encourage student-driven inquiry, helping shape meaningful exploration around their curiosities. While intelligent algorithms can supply information, teachers play an indispensable role in developing the human intelligence to apply knowledge wisely. The educator's creativity comes through illuminating the rich learning opportunities possible when students are empowered to keep discovering.

^{3. change what learning really is}

Will gen AI be like the calculator in school, or will it become a backstage weapon? In middle schools and high schools today, everywhere the students can use their calculator to speedily solve difficult problems of calculation or graphing. However, it has not resulted in the removal of basic mathematical computation from the curriculum: They can do long division, exponents and other math without computers. Students are not so stupid today as they were in the past. But, as Reich pointed out on the other hand, writing also helps one to learn how to think. Will outsourcing so much of that work to AI damage students 'critical thinking skills?

Liang suggested that students must learn about how the world works from first principles – this could be basic addition or sentence structure. However, they no longer need to be fully proficient – in other words, doing all computation by hand or writing all essays without AI support.

Rather than replacing human skills, AI could raise expectations by enabling students to think more critically and creatively, according to Demszky. Instead of memorizing facts or procedures, learners can leverage AI to generate initial content. The models do not do the students' thinking for them; the priority shifts to editing, evaluating, and curating model outputs. As Khan notes, this empowers students to become architects pursuing ambitious projects versus simply demonstrating basic proficiencies. When freed from repetitive tasks, students can dedicate energy towards higher-order goals that drive deeper engagement. AI may redefine mastery itself by requiring learners to interpret, refine and advance algorithmic suggestions. The models feed student agency rather than stifle it, expanding growth opportunities through purposeful collaboration with technology.

And Noah Goodman, associate professor of psychology and of computer science, questioned the analogy, saying this tool may be more like the printing press, which led to democratization of knowledge and did not eliminate the need for human writing skills

Negative Impacts

1. One of the biggest negative impacts of AI is that outputs do not reflect true cultural diversity.

ChatGPT falls severely short in authentically reflecting the identities and experiences of marginalized student groups. As Levine highlighted, when prompted to mimic the voice of a Black female author, ChatGPT simply inserted slang without grasping the cultural context or lived reality behind such communication. This failed attempt exposes the AI's lack of true understanding of the oppression and struggles minority youth face. Yet diversity and representation are fundamental for an equitable, inclusive education. When algorithms generate text oblivious to nuances of code-switching, when machine learning design excludes non-majority participation, underserved learners can feel alienated rather than empowered by technology. Until more diverse data trains systems like ChatGPT and diverse teams build them, AI risks harming the vulnerable students who most need to see their histories, languages, and lives valued in learning environments. Ethical AI integration requires not just preventing outright biased harm, but advancing anti-racist, elevating solutions. There is profound risk as well as opportunity in shaping how future intelligent systems recognize and respect multicultural strength.

There is no doubt that artificial intelligence will profoundly reshape education. As algorithms grow more advanced at producing written content, mathematical solutions, and analyzing sources, AI has the potential to transform how students learn and teachers teach. However, while intelligent technology can augment and enhance human capabilities, the core value of education - nurturing creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration - will remain essentially human. Students still need guidance making meaningful connections, asking thoughtful questions, and putting knowledge into wider context. AI cannot replicate the nuanced back-and-forth discussions that build deeper conceptual understanding. And promoting inquiry, imagination, and innovation requires empathetic instructors who know how to inspire, not just inform. So while artificial intelligence models will generate promising educational applications, from personalized assessments to interactive simulations, the essence of impactful learning is not just information delivery but equipping learners to solve complex problems collaboratively. Thus, responsible integration of AI should aim to amplify student potential rather than attempt to mimic the collective skills that set human cognition apart.

2. AI can be wrong but it will look like its right

While advanced AI models like ChatGPT may achieve 95% accuracy on certain tasks, the 5% error rate still poses risks when applied to sensitive domains like education. Even occasional mistakes or false information from such powerful language models can negatively shape student perspectives during pivotal learning stages. And when AI confidence outpaces its true dependability on emerging tasks, misunderstandings around reliability may propagate misplaced trust in algorithmic output. Proactive measures are thus essential to confirm technical transparency and prevent assumed infallibility, upholding human guidance surrounding appropriate usage where developmental impacts warrant abundant care.

3. AI is going to effect Plagiarism, Ethics, and Bias and misinformation. Although we are covering it in another unit, this is very important to address in education.

AI in the Workforce

"While AI would likely take away 85 million jobs globally by 2025, it would also generate 97 million new jobs in fields ranging from big data and machine learning to information security and digital marketing." - World Economic Forum.

Artificial intelligence refers to software and machines that can perform tasks normally requiring human cognition, allowing businesses to automate certain jobs and augment human capabilities. As machine learning algorithms enable computers to independently improve at predicting behaviors, recognizing patterns, understanding language, and making decisions based on data, AI is transforming processes and workflows across many industries. Experts predict AI and automation will redefine the future workforce as people increasingly collaborate with smart systems on analysis, creativity, service roles, and higher-order responsibilities requiring human judgment.