Kathy Gibson reports – Artificial intelligence (AI) has a big role to play in improving the administration of education.
Busi Matube, senior director of ICT and chief digital officer of CUT Free State, says AI helps the university to do predictive analysis from the first set of tests, combined with other data, to determine if students will be able to do their course within the time allocated, and to offer interventions if there are early problems.
She was speaking during a CIO panel discussion at the Datacentrix Showcase 2024.
Chatbots can also be used to provide 24/7 assistance to students, so they can be assisted or supported when they need it, and thus help to improve their performance.
Chatbots are currently in use, and will soon be further enhanced with generative AI and large language models (LLMs), she says.
On the transformation of education in general and higher learning in particular, AI can be a blessing and curse, Matube says.
And it has implications for both students and the faculty.
“When we are graduating the students, who are we really graduating?” she asks. “Is it the student or ChatGPT?
“And this also impacts the industries these students are subsequently entering.”
This begs the question of how content and learning needs to change. “It is a challenge we are not sure we are winning.”
So the issue of questionable degrees has an impact on the quality of education, but also the relevance of the degree to industry.
This then speaks to the need for constant curriculum change, and the need to adapt quickly to a changing environment.
“This brings in the issue of micro-credentials, so we can respond to the market today, and allow students to build up qualifications over time.”
On the whole though, Matube believes AI will be progressive, as it challenges how we think of education and learning itself.
“There is going to be a revolution in the learning space, so in the long-term, I think AI will introduce beneficial change.”