This story was originally published by EdSource. Sign up for their daily newsletter.
The risks of incorporating artificial intelligence into education outweigh the potential benefits, according to a report by the Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal Education, NPR reported.
The study focused on K-12 students, parents, educators and tech experts from 50 countries.
The pros examined in the report include:
- AI’s ability to supplement classroom learning and help students learn to read and write, especially students who are learning a second language
- Making teachers’ daily lives easier by automating certain tasks, from sending emails to drafting rubrics
The cons include:
- Threats to students’ cognitive development, where they allow technology to think for them
- Threats to students’ social and emotional development
Lastly, the report noted that AI can serve as both a driver of equity and inequity.
“We know that richer communities and schools will be able to afford more advanced AI models,” Rebecca Winthrop, a report author and senior fellow at Brookings, told NPR. “And we know those more advanced AI models are more accurate. Which means that this is the first time in ed-tech history that schools will have to pay more for more accurate information. And that really hurts schools without a lot of resources.”
