The Pros and Cons of AI integration in Education

The Pros and Cons of AI integration in Education:

AI Impact on Knowledge Assessment, Academic Integrity, and Cognitive Processes

In recent years, during which modern technologies have not stood still, artificial intelligence (or AI) has undergone many changes, as well as the introduction of certain practices and processes into various spheres of human activity. In many ways, AI is becoming an integral part of our life, having a significant impact on education.

It seems obvious that AI can greatly facilitate the acquisition of knowledge by providing various educational resources and programs, automated assessment systems, and virtual assistants/tutors to help with learning tasks. It can also be used to provide specialized support and raise awareness of knowledge gaps, enabling teachers to effectively and efficiently build the educational process using personalized and adaptive learning technologies. However, despite all the advantages, excessive dependence on and use of AI could lead to numerous problems, such as a decline in critical thinking and independent analysis and problem-solving skills.

In this essay I would like to consider the pros and cons of deeper integration of AI in the sphere of education and the implications for students’ cognition.

Artificial intelligence in education

Currently, the concept of adaptive learning involves a form of organizing the educational process that takes into account the skills, interests, and other individual needs and characteristics of learners as much as possible. As an example, we can use the adaptive learning scheme to show how artificial intelligence algorithms interact with the educational process itself (Fig. 1).

Fig.1 Intellectual learning diagram

The principle of interaction between blocks in the diagram is as follows: AI algorithms process blocks of knowledge domain and pedagogical models. The resulting processed material is then sent to the learner's interface in the form of various content. After all actions, the AI begins to analyze the learner's interaction with the received content and, based on this data, provides feedback, offering assistance until the subject area has been studied or until a certain result has been achieved, confirming engagement and understanding of the material.

Educational systems are also supported by a variety of artificial intelligence technologies that contribute to improving the educational process. Some of the main technologies are:

1. Chatbots and virtual assistants: these programs enable students to receive round-the-clock support, helping to explain concepts using examples from home and providing information about the structure of the course and its schedule.
2. Adaptive learning systems: they use artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze students' learning progress, creating learning materials and new teaching methods tailored to each individual.
3. Large online platforms: such platforms as Coursera and edX use AI algorithms to support and curate their courses, recommend personalized content to users, and analyze student progress.
4. School monitoring systems: AI-based school monitoring systems are used to track student performance and behavior. For example, China uses facial recognition systems to record student attendance in databases and to check student engagement and attention in classrooms.

The impact of AI on knowledge assessment, cognitive processes, and thinking

Despite all the above-mentioned advantages of implementing adaptive education, there is also a downside to this process. AI integration into educational processes may lead to problems of increasing academic dishonesty and issues with the development of assessment of students' cognitive abilities.

Considering the problem of increasing academic dishonesty, the term “AI plagiarism” has to be mentioned. It implies copying somebody’s work without mentioning them as the author. The problem does not boil down only to violating the author’s rights, it also concerns using the results provided by technologies without actually thinking them over and personalizing them. Although students may be quite cautious about AI, perceiving the risks of obtaining incorrect data that will contain many inaccuracies, many of them still prefer to rely completely on AI to do time-consuming tasks which require sieving through information and synthesizing the end-result. To counteract academic dishonesty, there have been developed AI plagiarism detection systems. However, there is still debate as to whether a student has to be allowed to use AI while writing research papers or using technologies should be banned.

Artificial intelligence can also affect the cognitive abilities of learners, because if it is used as the main tool for learning instead of a supplementary one, the focus of the thinking process may shift to the consumption of ready-made results. In the long term, this can lead to a weakening of analytical thinking, a decrease in motivation to independently search for information, and a decline in the meaningful assimilation of the information obtained.

An interesting experiment was set up by an MIT researcher N. Kosmyna, who used an electroencephalogram to compare people’s brain activity while they wrote essays, either with no digital assistance, or with the help of ChatGPT. The researcher found that the more external help participants had, the lower their level of brain connectivity was, so the experimental group who used ChatGPT to write essays showed significantly less activity in the brain networks associated with cognitive processing, attention and creativity. In other words, whatever the participants of the experiment using ChatGPT felt was going on inside their brains, the scans showed there wasn’t much happening up there.

Another disadvantage of using AI is memory deterioration, because with such a powerful tool for obtaining information, students no longer need to memorize a huge amount of information. They always have this source of data at their fingertips, which can provide the answer they need in a short period of time.

In addition, excessive use of AI can minimize communication between the student and the teacher, because before AI was introduced into public use, the learning process used to be engaging with discussions between teachers and students, thereby developing students' communication skills, teaching them to defend their point of view, and find compromises, making students feel satisfied with the process itself.

The issues discussed are summarized below (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Challenges to be addressed while integrating AI in education

To sum up, it cannot be denied that AI takes over mundane repetitive tasks we usually find uninteresting and tiresome, it performs complex tasks in a fraction of the time it takes a person to complete, the results produced by AI are easy to understand and can successfully complement human effort.

Nevertheless, widespread use of AI in education raises a number of ethical and legal issues that yet have to be resolved. Artificial intelligence deprives us of traditional skills we used to rely upon but the new skills to address the challenges of the future are still shaping up.

All things considered, despite the many shortcomings of AI integrated in education, it may become essential and irreplaceable in the near future, ensuring a balance between innovation and traditional teaching principles. The use of AI in the educational process opens up significant opportunities for improving the objectivity, accuracy, and adaptability of student assessment, as well as for personalizing feedback and analyzing cognitive processes in learners with a view to improve them.