How AI Will Change the Education System

AI can feel like magic. Capable of sifting through enormous quantities of information in mere seconds, it’s an efficient and powerful technology that is already revolutionizing the world of business. It’s also incredibly fast-growing. 

It can be used for stock analysis, determining the NCAA football odds this year for those interested in wagering on the college game, or helping a company make third-quarter projections. It can also be used in classrooms. In this article, we look at how one disruptive technology may be poised to change the entire educational system. 

Data-driven decision making

Today, it’s not at all uncommon for educators to get the directive to implement data-driven decision-making to set goals and produce outcomes for their students. Administrators love to say stuff like this because it looks great in an email. It tells their supervisors that expectations are being set. 

And teachers read these messages, laugh, and think, “Right. How about you buy us pencils first?”

This is a common situation with technology. Software exists that can help schools achieve excellent outcomes. What doesn’t exist? The money to pay for it. 

And there’s another side to that coin: training. Data interpretation is a career path. People get master’s degrees in it. You don’t just figure out how to “implement data-driven decision-making,” overnight. It can take a significant amount of training. Even then, the skills that make a person a good teacher won’t necessarily make them a good data scientist. 

AI can’t give schools more money – though there are initiatives to make it more accessible – but it can help with the latter concern.

AI-driven data management automates many of the factors that would otherwise require human intervention. An AI-driven database will automatically store massive quantities of information, search it for patterns, and then present that information in a format that is simple enough for the layperson to understand it. 

From there, the teacher actually will be able to use data to form specific, goal-driven plans for their students. That’s good because data-driven teaching has shown enormous potential to not only help boost testing scores but also improve overall educational outcomes. 

Resource management

AI and AI-infused products are also used to help schools make the most of their resources. Obviously, anyone who has ever perused a public-school budget will understand that this alone can be a substantial benefit. AI-powered automation can:

• Help improve administrative functions. This includes simple things. For example, printers coupled with AI can monitor ink and toner supplies and automate orders. This frees time up for the secretary—come to school ten minutes after the first bell and you’ll learn that they are incredibly busy people—while also guaranteeing that the school always has a good supply of what it needs. 
• Overhaul staffing. Of course, teachers are hopefully long-term positions. However, public school districts tend to have a large number of support staff. These professionals can provide a significant advantage to the classrooms where they work. However, it is hard to put them where they are most needed. A  mid-sized district could easily have several thousand kids. With those numbers, it can be next to impossible to know where people will be best used. AI-driven software can help detect the places of highest need and generate reports that make it clearer where personnel resources can be best directed. 
• Moderate major costs. AI-infused appliances can help save schools thousands of dollars every year. An average school building may experience annual utility bills numbering in the tens of thousands of dollars. Smart appliances cut costs by ensuring energy is only being used when it is necessary.  

When every dollar counts, a tool that can help save money and better implement resources that have already been paid for is invaluable. 

The money problem

Let’s double back to an earlier point: AI benefits schools, but it is also cost prohibitive. That’s true. The upfront cost can be staggering, and that’s an adjective that tends to turn educators off when it is being applied to their budget. 

However, with AI it’s important to look at the big picture. Artificial intelligence, when properly implemented, should pay for itself over time. That’s the promise of any disruptive technology, really. Businesses don’t spend thousands of dollars every year on their tech stack to be trendy. They do it because their tools translate into higher revenue over time. 

It’s the same with AI in schools. In fact, some campuses are already implementing AI as a way to cut costs. Granted, it’s a little too soon to say exactly what kind of impact AI will have down the line. Schools with their tight budgets may not be the best early adopters of this technology. However, it seems clear that AI will have an important place in classrooms all over the planet in the not-so-distant future.