Priya Lakhani: ‘Teachers’ time is invaluable’

This expert in Artificial Intelligence was the speaker for the 5th Annual Forum for Innovation in Education organised by Caxton College and gave a talk in which she explained how AI will transform the educational sector in forthcoming years.

“The dream of every teacher is to be able to differentiate for each pupil. Parents also want their children to receive a personalised education. But with the current educational system it’s very difficult to achieve this. The main problem is that teachers dedicate around 60% of their time to administrative work. AI educational platforms eliminate this so that teachers can spend more time on their students. This makes learning more individualised and personal, and students progress more quickly”, said the founder CEO of Century Tech, a British institution whose aim is to improve education through AI and already works with schools in 65 countries.

With this affirmation, Ms Lakhani, who is a member of the UK’s AI Council, negates one of the more common misconceptions about AI, which is that it will ‘eliminate’ teaching jobs and leave teaching up to machines. But from what she says, it seems that the effect will be precisely the opposite: that AI will make the learning process more human. “In lessons we have to promote HI (Human Intelligence) with the help of AI so that the teacher can spend more time teaching. The key is to take away all the unnecessary tasks that AI can do quickly. It’s essential to invest in teachers”, confirmed this British entrepreneur who is an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her contributions to improving society.

Educational Platforms with Artificial Intelligence

There are many challenges facing the Spanish educational system, which currently has a dropout rate of 16%. “According to our data, schools using AI in their classrooms improved their results by 22% to 30%. The key to this improvement was in the increased efficiency of learning because pupils perceive that lessons have been tailor-made for them”.

These platforms, which incorporate machine learning, can track the students’ knowledge, abilities and mistakes, how they feel whilst learning, if they feel frustrated or annoyed, or their preferences. “This is because AI works with the neuroscience in order to gain detailed information about how we learn. This detail is very important because it helps us to analyse and understand how each pupil studies. AI can take into account a lot of different data about how students behave, which allows us to provide a better and more precise education for them”. The platform, Ms Lakhani said, “doesn’t predict what grade a student will have at the end of the year, but will let us know well in advance if the pupil has any problems so that the teacher can intervene. Without this information, it could be too late when the teacher realises that a student isn’t doing well”.

Artificial Intelligence at Caxton College

This British school has been a pioneer in the Valencian Community in implementing an AI pilot project in classrooms for the last two years of Primary education and throughout Secondary. It’s too early to evaluate results, but currently both students and teachers are taking on this new challenge with enthusiasm and a positive attitude. Students can connect and complete work recommended by the platform, which allows them to take control of their own learning. “The teacher receives real time information about which students are progressing as expected, who needs stretch and who needs to make more effort”, said Ms Lakhani.