Artificial intelligence (AI) is an increasingly important technology in our daily lives. It has the potential to transform many everyday fields, including education, where it facilitates personalized and adaptive learning and offers students learning support tools. But the implementation of these tools in education leads to certain challenges and debates, such as concerns about data privacy, misguided trust in the results provided by these tools, lack of critical thinking and empathy, and even the need to ensure equity and inclusion in access to these technologies for all students, regardless of their origin and location. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has nowadays become increasingly prevalent in various aspects of education, including classroom debates. This chapter aims to explore the multifaceted impact of AI on classroom debates, considering its influence on information access, critical thinking, diversity of perspectives, feedback mechanisms, ethical considerations, preparation and practice, and instructor support.
7.1. The Advantages of AI on Classroom Debates
Nowadays, integrating AI technology grows rapidly in education. AI can assist and make daily tasks easier. With a proper prompt, any activity that one wishes to get done will be accomplished in a matter of seconds. Below is a short list with the main advantages of AI on classroom debates:
Here are several ways in which AI might influence classroom debates:
- Access to Information: AI can provide students with access to vast amounts of information, enabling them to gather relevant data and evidence to support their arguments more easily. This can lead to more informed and substantive debates. Tools like search engines, databases, and AI-powered research assistants enable students to explore diverse sources and perspectives efficiently. This abundance of information enhances the depth and breadth of debates, empowering students to construct well-informed arguments.
- Facilitation of Research: AI-powered research tools can assist students in finding scholarly articles, relevant studies, and other resources to bolster their arguments. This can save time and encourage deeper exploration of topics.
- Enhanced Critical Thinking: Engaging with AI technologies can challenge students to think critically about the sources and validity of information they encounter. They may need to assess the credibility of AI-generated content and consider biases in algorithms. They must discern between reliable and biased sources, considering the ethical implications of AI algorithms. Classroom debates on AI ethics foster discussions on topics such as bias, privacy, and societal impact, cultivating ethical awareness and critical thinking skills among students.
- Diverse Perspectives: AI can help diversify the perspectives represented in classroom debates by presenting a wide range of viewpoints from various sources. Students encounter perspectives they might not have considered, enriching discussions and promoting empathy and open-mindedness. However, educators must ensure that AI algorithms prioritize balanced representation and mitigate echo chamber effects.
- Real-time Feedback: AI-powered tools can provide real-time feedback on students’ arguments, helping them refine their debating skills and construct stronger arguments. This immediate feedback loop can enhance learning outcomes. Virtual debate platforms and simulations enable students to practice in a controlled environment, fostering confidence and proficiency. Additionally, AI assists instructors in managing debates, automating tasks such as topic selection, participation tracking, and assessment.
- Ethical Considerations: Classroom debates about AI can raise ethical questions regarding the use of AI technologies, their impact on society, and issues such as bias and privacy. These discussions can deepen students’ understanding of ethical dilemmas in technology.
- Preparation and Practice: AI-based simulations and virtual debate platforms can offer students opportunities to practice debating skills in a controlled environment. This can help build confidence and proficiency before engaging in live debates.
- Instructor Support: AI tools can support instructors in managing and accessing classroom debates more efficiently. They can automate tasks such as organizing debate topics, tracking participation, and evaluating arguments, allowing instructors to focus more on facilitating discussions. Using AI in Education can also reduce the cost of education from an educational institution’s perspective, and quite significantly if used to its potential. AI can automate a number of tasks assigned to administration, teachers, IT, and more. For example, AI can take on daily tasks such as grading, scheduling, data management, and even tutoring. With AI in education, educational institutions can save on budget by cutting down resources required to operate efficiently, thereby increasing cost-effectiveness.
Overall, the integration of AI into classroom debates has the potential to enhance learning experiences, promote critical thinking, and foster more engaging and productive discussions among students. However, educators must navigate ethical considerations and ensure that AI enhances, rather than replaces, human interaction and decision-making. By leveraging AI effectively, educators can cultivate engaging and productive debate environments that foster intellectual growth and skills development among students.
7.2. Disadvantages of AI on Classroom Debates
As mentioned above, introducing AI into classroom debates can have several potential drawbacks:
- Dependency: Students might become overly reliant on AI for generating arguments or rebuttals, diminishing their critical thinking and research skills. They may begin to rely more on the AI’s suggestions rather than formulating their own ideas. In the long run, this dependence could result in the neglect of important traditional teaching methods and the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Bias: AI systems, like any technology, can be prone to biases based on the data they are trained on or the algorithms used to generate responses. This could lead to skewed perspectives or reinforcement of existing biases in debates.
- Lack of Creativity: AI may not be able to generate truly innovative or creative arguments, as they are limited by the data they are trained on and the algorithms used. This could result in debates becoming repetitive or lacking in original ideas.
- Loss of Human Interaction: Debating is not just about presenting arguments but also about engaging with and responding to the perspectives of others. Over-reliance on AI could diminish the interpersonal aspect of debates, reducing opportunities for students to develop communication and negotiation skills.
- Technical Issues: Dependence on AI in the classroom could lead to technical issues such as system failures, connectivity problems, or glitches, disrupting the flow of the debate and causing frustration among students and teachers.
- Ethical Concerns: There may be ethical considerations surrounding the use of AI in education, particularly if it involves storing and analysing students’ personal data or if there are concerns about privacy and security.
- Resource Dependence: Implementing AI systems in classrooms requires resources in terms of both finances and technical support. Schools with limited resources may struggle to adopt and maintain AI technology for debating purposes.
- Threat to Teacher’s Job Security: It is a concern that the advancement and adoption of AI could impact the need for certain job roles in education. The way AI continues to automate more aspects of the education process, there may be fewer demands for human educators, which could lead to both improved productivity and potential job loss.
Addressing these concerns requires careful planning, implementation, and ongoing evaluation to ensure that AI enhances rather than detracts from the educational experience.
7.3. Human Intervention: The Roles of Teachers
Now the question is, what important role should teachers be taking to ensure AI usage for education among students is still in moderation?
Teachers and AI can collaborate in co-teaching scenarios, where AI systems may assist in instruction, assessment, and real-time feedback & tutoring, while teachers offer guidance, interpretation, and deeper engagement with the material. The role of teachers as mentors, motivators, and facilitators of learning will remain essential. Teachers bring human connection, empathy, social-emotional skills, and the ability to foster creativity and critical thinking, which cannot be replicated by AI. The teacher-AI collaboration will harness the power of technology while upholding the invaluable human elements of education. As simple as it looks, teachers can still have the power to set rules and boundaries in class. Set a strict rule of prohibiting the usage internet in any face-to-face class activities and allow students to think freely and creatively using their gained knowledge from past lessons.
