In this post, we will discuss what AI chatbots in education are and their primary features. Of course their pros and cons will be discussed as well. Yes, we’re making this a transparent, two-sided article and not just singing praise-songs.
The best part is there are dozens of free AI bots you can start with as soon as you’re done with this piece.
Let’s not waste time and get started then!
What are AI chatbots in education?
As the name hints, these are AI bots who aim to teach students or teachers. These are generally employed by schools and colleges to assist or replace teachers. For now, these are mostly digital as in a software form. However, full body AI bots are already coming up and probably will gain momentum in a few years.
The source of knowledge for these bots can be diverse. It may be specific books, syllabus, or the entire internet. That would depend on the school employing the bot.
Do note that “student AIs” are available as well. These operate with the goal of posing as a student, asking questions, completing homework and basically training teachers.
You may even use these AI chatbots to help your support staff as they can be used to answer questions from your customers!
What are the primary features of an AI teaching assistant?
The primary goal is to do as much of a “teacher’s” job as possible.
The exact features differ for each tool, but generally these tools will allow:
- Explaining concepts
- Generating questions and answers
- Checking answers for correctness
- Generating activity sheets
- Generate reports (both for students and teachers)
- Lesson planners
- Translators etc.
As we know, AI improves exponentially. So, chances are by the time you read this piece dozens of other features may be added to these bots.
Primary benefits of AI chatbots in education?
Why do we even need an AI Chat Bot in education? What are their benefits? If those are your questions, allow me to answer.
- 24X7 availability: These AI chatbots aren’t constrained by human hours. Students or anyone else can access them 24X7 just when curiosity hits them, regardless of the time of day.
- No emotional baggage: Teachers have emotional baggage and prejudices too. They like some students better than others. If not that, their own physical or mental health may be taking a toll on their teaching capabilities. These are problems that do not arise with an AI teaching assistant.
- Personalised experiences: AI teaching bots can help impart personalised answers to students based on their previous experience and performances. This ensures there’s equity in education and not just equality.
- Multilingual support: Humans are rarely fluent in multiple languages. Even when they are, it’s rather limited. An AI chatbot can translate and interact in literally unlimited number of languages which not only helps your students but also may help you get more students.
- Better feedback: Students may not be comfortable sharing 100% honest feedback about a teacher or their teaching habits. This may not be an issue when they’re asked to rate an AI chatbot and its performance.
- Save time for teachers: A teacher may be required to make reports, check answers, generate question papers and a lot more. All of this can be done by these bots in minutes if not seconds. This frees up the teachers to focus on more important aspects.
Problems with AI bots in education
I’m trying to keep this piece fair. So, let’s talk about the other side of the coin.
- Heavily dependent on the user: Any AI can only generate answers for what’s being asked. If the user doesn’t know which lesson/chapter or question to ask, or can’t frame it accurately, the answer may be different or wrong.
- Lack of moral/social beliefs: AI bots lack emotion. This means they may fail to understand the moral/religious or ethical beliefs of a student-base. Some answers may trigger a specific group even though the answer may be factually correct. (E.g. “there’s no proof of god” or “some religious book is not history but myth” etc.)
- Incorrect answer: Despite all the advancements, AI answers aren’t always correct. They may be outdated or even outright wrong.
- Source of information: Most AI chatbots for education let you select what “source” you want them to use. This means any chatbot is only as smart or effective as the selected source.
- Technical and privacy concerns: It’s easier to hack software than a human. Third-parties may hack these chatbots to input wrong/malicious sources, gain advanced access to confidential information or other such data.
- Teacher replacement: While this isn’t an immediate problem, it’s probable that teachers are entirely replaced by more advanced humanoid bots in the future.
Conclusion
You probably have a better idea of AI chatbots in education now than you had when you arrived here. Yes, it’s a double-edged sword. There are benefits and flaws. But that’s just by 2024 standards. If AI has taught us anything it’s that in less than a month they improve more than humans would in years.
So, as of now, I’d say these bots may serve as an assistant to teachers instead of being able to entirely replace them. Of course that’s a future probability that may or may not come to fruition.
