Abstract:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is undoubtedly inevitable in the future of many industries, and it will also be an indispensable technology in schools, universities, and training centers. Presently, the developmental stage of AI in education (AIinED) is still in its infancy. AIinED will not only change the nature of teaching and learning in the classrooms, but also have a profound impact on the organization and operation of educational institutions and policymaking in educational systems.

Due to the emerging nature of the research on AIinED and the diverse presentation of literature and government documents, a meta-analytical systematic review is not yet feasible. Instead, a systematic qualitative/thematic analysis and synthesis approach is adopted in this paper.

This study is, therefore, focused on the major stakeholders and policymakers around the world including UNESCO, European Parliament, European Commission, National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence of the USA, etc. Their policy documents published in the last 3 years on strategic plans and proactive regulations, as well as research papers published by experts in the area such as faculty, scientists, and consultants, will be studied in this paper. These documents will be the most significant and most relevant to this study.

This study focuses on EU and USA, and there are several discoveries from this study. Firstly, the demand of AI related college courses increases, which is an encouraging trend, but there may become a lack of faculty with relevant expertise, and the graduates mostly go for industry jobs instead of staying in academia. Secondly, the geographic distribution of such AI related programs is unbalanced in EU, with three out of twenty-seven countries offering half of the undergraduate and graduate AI related programs in EU. Thirdly, in EU, the number of undergraduate AI-related programs is 3 to 4 times less than the AI-related graduate programs, so that the undergraduate programs in EU need to be strengthened in the AI-related field, while USA offers about the same number of undergraduate and graduate AI-related programs.

This study also identifies the risks related to AIinED, such as unrealistic expectations from the general population, lack of expertise, challenges in data handling, and unpreparedness of the educational system in some countries. AIinED risk management policy with clear and executable procedures must be in place to lead to a higher consistency and less uncertainty in implementation.

The purpose of education is student learning, and hence the students are considered to be the center of AIinED. This study proposes a model, with students in the center, to describe how AIinED can be implemented with relevant stakeholders and needed resources at the school level, which could serve as a guideline to scale up such implementations to more schools.

Keywords:

Artificial intelligence, education, policies, AI risks, AIinED model.