Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have transformed multiple industries, and education is no exception. AI-powered tools like ChatGPT developed by OpenAI, the American research laboratory, have the potential to greatly enhance the learning experience of students and provide valuable support to educators.

One of the most significant benefits of using AI in education is personalised learning. ChatGPT, a large language model (LLM) AI tool, can offer individualised support to students. By analysing the learning needs, interests, and pace of each student, AI-driven tools such as ChatGPT or any other purpose-built instructional chatbot can provide customised content, learning resources, and feedback. This personalised approach allows students to learn at their own speed and develop a deeper understanding of subjects.

Over the last few years, OUM has been working on developing one such chatbot for this very purpose. This AI-powered innovation has recently been linked to ChatGPT for its ability to enhance user experience, and provide personalised learning and real-time assistance. An early version of it received a merit award at the 2019 Multimedia Super Corridor Malaysia Asia Pacific ICT Awards (MSC Malaysia APICTA).

In addition to personalisation, AI can assist educators by automating repetitive tasks such as grading assignments, quizzes, or exams. By leveraging AI algorithms, LLM tools can evaluate students’ work and offer instant, detailed feedback, freeing up valuable time for educators to focus on the more critical aspects of their academic role, such as lesson planning and student mentoring.

In the future, what we think of as an instructor could be a derivative of the human instructor and AI-based educational tools, with each playing a complementary role to the other.

Another compelling advantage of AI in education is its ability to facilitate collaborative learning. AI-based teaching and learning tools can be used as virtual teaching assistants, enabling students to engage in group discussions, brainstorming sessions, and collaborative problem-solving activities. AI-driven tools can guide these interactions by offering insights, suggesting resources, and moderating discussions, thus fostering a dynamic and engaging learning environment.

Incorporating AI in assessment methods presents numerous possibilities for enhancing the evaluation process. Traditional assessment often focuses on a limited range of skills and may not provide a comprehensive understanding of students’ abilities. With AI, educators can create more diverse and dynamic assessments that evaluate students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as creativity. ChatGPT, for example, can generate customised questions, simulate real-world scenarios, and provide real-time feedback on performance, thus enabling a more accurate and holistic assessment of students’ capabilities.

In addition to teaching and learning, AI can also support educational administration. At OUM, for instance, an AI-driven system that utilises machine learning is currently being developed to identify new learners who are at risk of dropping out. With such a system in place, the university can then provide targeted counselling and support, ultimately improving retention rates.

Despite these promised benefits, there are challenges and ethical considerations in adopting AI in teaching and assessment. Concerns surrounding data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the potential for AI to replace human educators must be addressed as the technology continues to evolve. Establishing guidelines, maintaining transparency and close collaboration among the stakeholders, especially the educators and policymakers, will be crucial in ensuring that AI is employed responsibly and ethically. Further, with the emergence of ChatGPT, educators must explore innovative assessment models to better evaluate student learning.

Summing up, AI-powered tools like ChatGPT have the potential to revolutionise teaching and assessment by offering personalised learning experiences, automating administrative tasks, and enabling a more comprehensive evaluation of students’ skills. Embracing these innovations, while navigating their concomitant ethical considerations, promises to create a more efficient, engaging, and effective educational landscape for generations to come. The future of higher education will likely involve close collaboration between humans and AI-based educational tools. In fact, the role previously played by human instructors alone can be distributed between actual people and AI-based tools.

In the future, what we think of as an instructor could be a derivative of the human instructor and AI-based educational tools, with each playing a complementary role to the other. For example, the human instructor can take a leading role in producing learning content while AI-based tools can be made to manage continuous student support.

Creating a synergy and relationship between the two would allow the human instructors to leave the repetitive, mechanical tasks to AI-powered educational tools. Ultimately, this will allow the human instructors to devote their time to higher-level cognitive and creative tasks.