Is ChatGPT the future of learning?

Will AI bring about the transformation or destruction of education as we know it?

How are generative AI tools like ChatGPT changing education? We uncover horror stories of students using these tools to write entire essays and pass them off as their own. But some education experts think there is potential for positive applications.

“In the next five to 10 years, I think we’re gonna see a significant change in education,” said Meti Basiri, co-founder and CEO of ApplyBoard. Meti’s words reflect a growing sense that artificial intelligence will soon reshape education as we know it.

Meti is excited by AI’s potential to expand access to schooling globally. The founder envisions a future where “every single student in the world has access to education” through AI teachers that can extend expertise to all.

Joshua Wöhle, co-founder and CEO of learning platform Milestone, also believes there’s great potential in using AI for personalisation in education. Joshua believes generative models can finally “deliver on the promise of personalised coaching and feedback at scale to accelerate learning.”

But these experts also caution about maintaining human connection in classrooms (rather than replacing FaceTime with AI tutors) and teaching AI literacy.

Mary Gordon, founder of the empathy-building organisation Roots of Empathy, made a note of caution amid the optimism. Mary argued that we must be careful not to “allow the use of technology and the current things we’re speaking of … to eclipse our humanity.”

In the founder’s view, preserving human imagination, relationships, and emotional growth remains essential, even in AI-enabled classrooms. “Childhood should not be a race; it should be a feast. Take your time,” Mary urged AI experts.

As for the fear that college students are using ChatGPT to do coursework, Meti said that ApplyBoard is working with several university faculties and professors and that this is an area of concern.

However, pointing to the development of GenAI detection tools as a starting point, the founder believes that “in the next two to three years, a lot of institutions will have figured out … how to adapt.”

Mindstone CEO Joshua Wöhle, Roots of Empathy founder Mary Gordon, and ApplyBoard co-founder and CEO Meti Basiri were in conversation with freelance technology journalist Alyssa Newcomb on Future Societies at Collision 2023.

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Main image of Mindstone CEO Joshua Wöhle, speaking on stage at Collision 2023: Carlos Osorio/Web Summit (CC BY 2.0)