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However, even though Mr. Sivanzire and his students are not yet able to make use of AI in their classes, they are seeing it being used in the wider culture, often in a negative way, to manipulate public opinion.
The teacher underlines the importance of educating people to distinguish between verifiable information and lies. "There are videos created by artificial intelligence that show images that are not real and have been created for propaganda purposes,” he explains.
Bursting the Silicon Valley bubble
One concern that is frequently raised is the extent to which the development of AI tools is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small group of people.
Farida Shahid, the independent Special Rapporteur on the right to education, shares these concerns.
“AI algorithms are being made by individuals who often sit in a particular location, such as Silicon Valley, where the people who make and test them have their own biases,” she says. “Often the algorithms don’t do well at recognizing people with dark skin. They also have great problems with people who are autistic and don't like looking into cameras.
“Another example is the UK where, recently, an AI programme was used to grade exam papers. This led to decisions that were biased against people from certain ethnic backgrounds. We really need to look at this issue more closely, starting with the human rights perspective, and I think that's where the U.N. role comes in: if you increasingly rely on AI as the source of verification, you're going to have problems because you are using a framework which privileges white males, and doesn't reflect the whole gamut of people's lives and experiences”.
The urgent need to expand the developer talent base has been identified by the UN as central to ensuring that a wide variety of voices are heard in the “EdTech” (educational technology) space.
Shafika Isaacs, the head of technology and AI at the UN agency for science, technology and education (UNESCO), says that the number of African EdTech startups has been mushrooming in recent years, with entrepreneurs experimenting with the AI-enabled digital tools which could support learning and teaching across many different contexts, including in African languages, and local dialects.
“I've personally engaged with a startup that matches high school students to career pathways, including choosing the right university, community college or even entrepreneurship programme. They have seen strong results because of their focus on children in underprivileged contexts and schools. Tech startups have also looked at developing AI-enabled mobile apps, including chat bots, that can support teachers in teaching literacy or teaching mathematics.
“The challenge is that there's often a disconnect between the public education system and tech startups We need educators to be proactive in engaging with those developing tools, and we encourage students and teachers to learn how to create and design technologies that are relevant to their linguistic and cultural contexts.”
The urgent need to expand the developer talent base has been identified by the UN as central to ensuring that a wide variety of voices are heard in the “EdTech” (educational technology) space.
Shafika Isaacs, the head of technology and AI at the UN agency for science, technology and education (UNESCO), says that the number of African EdTech startups has been mushrooming in recent years, with entrepreneurs experimenting with the AI-enabled digital tools which could support learning and teaching across many different contexts, including in African languages, and local dialects.
“I've personally engaged with a startup that matches high school students to career pathways, including choosing the right university, community college or even entrepreneurship programme. They have seen strong results because of their focus on children in underprivileged contexts and schools. Tech startups have also looked at developing AI-enabled mobile apps, including chat bots, that can support teachers in teaching literacy or teaching mathematics.
“The challenge is that there's often a disconnect between the public education system and tech startups We need educators to be proactive in engaging with those developing tools, and we encourage students and teachers to learn how to create and design technologies that are relevant to their linguistic and cultural contexts.”
Resources:
Global education must integrate AI, centred on humanity
Source: UN News