Many believe that artificial intelligence or simply AI could function as an education provider and take the places of teachers in the near future. This essay disagrees with this statement due to the fact that computers are not advanced enough yet to successfully tackle the responsibilities of a teacher. However, students can take advantage of remote learning instead of attending classes physically as in the traditional education system.
Computer learning is unfortunately not at the level where it can do the work of an effective educator. Being a teacher is not only providing information to students and teaching them but also paying attention to learners’ strengths and weaknesses on specific topics as well as giving feedback. Moreover, dealing with students, especially those in primary schools, might require emotional intelligence to cope with their sensitive issues. Unlikely, fully computerized education tools are not developed enough to make sure the necessities of any student are satisfied and matched. For example, Grammarly is an AI-based language correction tool that can comprehensively analyze texts. Students can benefit from this tool by learning about their mistakes, correcting them, and thereby improving their writing skills in the end. But still, Grammarly can neither support students emotionally in case of a stressful moment nor highlight the points to be improved based on the strengths and weaknesses of the learner.
On the other hand, remote education can be considered as an effective alternative to the artificial intelligence. Remote learning is an online teaching method with a lecturer with sufficient background and experience to provide education all over the world with one click. Presentation slides, video calling tools such as Zoom or Skype, and a proper internet connection are the fundamentals for starting a livestream class across the globe. Additionally, remote learning has gained a popularity, particularly during the 2020 Covid pandemic. For instance, a lockdown protocol was implemented globally for two solid years and there was no opportunity to participate in the classes physically other than pursuing the education relying on online courses. This new system has eventually turned into a habit for millions and adopted by many schools and educators who have sustained it even after the pandemic.
In conclusion, even though it is a common thought that machines and computers will work as teachers soon, AI is not ready for such a replacement since it does not have sufficient pedagogical knowledge and skills. Nevertheless, traditional teachers can improve their teaching methods and can conduct more effective and catchy lessons to not just a group of students but hundreds or thousands of them with no extra effort by using remote and online teaching.