On November 30, 2022, the world changed when OpenAI launched ChatGPT – a chat app based on a class of artificial intelligence models called Generative Pre-Trained Transformers (or GPTs for short). Since the launch of ChatGPT – and the subsequent emergence of a multitude of other LLMs/GPTs – we have seen a resurgence of interest in AI and a revolution unfolding before our eyes. This is a revolution like no other, at least in the 21st century, and it is advancing at a breathtaking pace, impacting a wide range of fields and, as a result, entire lives.

One of the areas where AI is likely to have the most significant and far-reaching impact is education. The second biggest challenge (after the threat of the creation of intelligent machines that could bring about the end of humanity as we know it) is the challenge of mass and widespread unemployment and job disruption. OpenAI estimates that LLMs/GPTs and this class of AI models will likely redefine and automate 10 percent of the work of 80 percent of people and 50 percent of the work of another 19 percent (leaving just 1 percent of the most creative people who may be untouched by AI).

While these numbers may be an approximation of developed countries, I believe they significantly underestimate the impact on developing countries like Pakistan. Here, the impact on the majority of low-skilled knowledge workers – such as developers, designers, copywriters and mid-level professionals – will be much more severe. Will those who lose their jobs be able to transition into higher-value work? Or will they fall into the abyss and become losers of the AI ​​era? That remains to be seen. But it will largely depend on how our education system responds to AI.

The impact of AI on education can be understood in a number of ways and at multiple levels. At the most basic level, the use of AI by teachers and educators can increase productivity and free them up from mundane tasks, allowing them to focus on more creative and content-related tasks. Teachers can use AI to create lesson plans, generate assignment sets, review exams, write reports, and communicate with parents and school administrators. Teachers can also use AI in the classroom as a tool and aid to reinforce learning, illustrate, demonstrate and simulate complex points, encourage creativity and practice in the classroom, etc. Teachers can also encourage students to use AI as a personal tutor. No teacher has the time to answer every question of every student. In personalized tutor mode, AI can be a great and patient teacher. Students can use AI for conversations about problems and difficult topics to prepare for the flipped class, or come back after class to clarify and build on what they have learned. All of these have been considered useful and recommended teaching and learning methods with AI.

Challenges arise when AI is no longer used as a tool but as a complete replacement for teaching and learning activities. Should students be allowed to use AI exclusively to solve homework or submit AI-written essays? How should one assess a student’s learning success and contribution to a collaboratively written essay or solution? Will this lead to the learning success achieved without the use of AI? If not, will it be better or worse? A recent study with the provocative title AI can harm learningby professors at the University of Pennsylvania examined the mathematics learning success of 1,000 high school students in a Turkish school system and found that students who used AI performed better in (AI-assisted) practice units, but performed worse on the (unaided) final test than those who did not use AI when practicing and actually had “difficulties” in practicing and learning.

As AI increasingly takes on the role of teacher and tutor, it is important to rethink what we need to learn and how we learn with AI in school.

Large language models have become quite good at summarizing text, writing letters, emails, and essays of decent quality, even arguing and solving simple (already solved) problems. Should students be allowed to use these language skills to submit written assignments, essays, and problems? If this became the norm in our education system, what would be the long-term impact on our ability to write? It is possible that, as with the calculator example, this ability will simply disappear without anyone noticing. But writing is also linked to our ability to think, and learning to write helps to clarify our ability to think. In a world with ubiquitous AI, where we may never need to write anything, will it never require thinking either? Do we need to develop other mechanisms besides writing to teach our children to think?

Questions like these are at the heart of the debate at the interface between education and AI. There are still no clear answers.

AI is here to stay. It will continue to enter our professional lives. Our education system must embrace and build on the new realities of the AI ​​era. Today’s students (and tomorrow’s professionals) need to learn what will help them advance their careers in the not-too-distant future. As AI takes on the role of teacher and tutor, it will be important to rethink what we need to learn and how we can learn with AI in schools.

For almost a year now, there has been a major movement worldwide to rethink education and the future of work in the age of AI. Scientists, academics, educators, policymakers and practitioners are thinking hard and conducting experiments to understand the impact of AI on the learning process and how education needs to evolve to provide easy and widespread access to these powerful AI tools. These questions need to be answered not after the fact, but through prior experimentation and rigorous scientific evidence.

Many countries, school districts and schools – including Pakistan – have announced changes in policy and teaching practices, equipping and training their teachers with the tools they need to teach AI effectively. This does not necessarily have to be a case of total rejection or extreme caution. A carefully crafted roadmap is needed at the school and national level to properly understand the impact of AI on learning and develop strategies that maximize benefits and minimize harm.

Schools, administrators and teachers do not need to be followers. They can be leaders and partners in this important exercise by creating local evidence to help them adapt their own adoption and AI strategies.

Our children’s education and future are too important to leave to chance or to deny them access to the best learning and career tools available. That includes AI.

The author is a former member of the Planning Commission. He is currently the Managing Partner of INNOVentures Global (Pvt) Ltd and Co-founder of PakGPT, a platform to promote AI skills and education. He can be reached at [email protected]