AI successfully implemented in education at universities in Bucks and Herts
Teaching staff at universities in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire are already using AI in education.
Last updated 6th Nov 2023
Universities in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire are using artificial intelligence in education.
Whether it be to teach students how AI works and can be developed, in computer science and other technological degrees, or how to use it as a general tool in education, the University of Hertfordshire and the University of Buckingham see artificial intelligence as a positive advancement.
With the world Summit on AI having taken place in Bletchley earlier this week, artificial intelligence has been a major talking point locally.
Although the Summit explored the topics of safety, ethics, and limitations, universities in the three counties have retained the positives of the technology.
What AI means
Let us rewind to how the term 'artificial intelligence' can be coined.
The Dean of the faculty of Computing Law and Psychology at the University of Buckingham, Harin Sellahewa, said: "There is no universally accepted definition of what AI is, and often it is misunderstood what the general term artificial intelligence is."
"AI could be understood as non-biological intelligence."
As such, artificial intelligence is understood as a technological brain made up of computer systems, rather than a human brain.
Professor Sellahewa positions himself on the supportive side of the technology, believing it could help complete human intelligence in sectors where speed and efficiency are needed.
He said: "AI has huge potential to do lots of positive things and transform the way we live, work and connect ourselves."
For example, Professor Sellahewa explored the idea of using AI in healthcare, where the UK has "hundreds of thousands of x-ray image per month to be analysed."
According to him, there is currently insufficient human expertise to do the work, causing delays in diagnosis.
He used the example of cancer, where the longer a diagnosis takes, the "higher the chances of becoming more advanced and difficult to treat."
"And this is where technology like AI could come in, because AI can work 24/7, you can deal with hundreds of thousands if not million of x-ray images using it", he added.
Where artificial intelligence could perform the basic diagnosis, Professor Sellahewa believes the human brain could then come in and evaluate the risks.
Exploiting AI in education
Artificial intelligence softwares are already being used by students to help them in their coursework.
Although many university professors worry about students letting computers do their work, and have found it difficult to evaluate where plagiarism is taking place, others believe it could be a tool given to students to help them in education.
Computer Science lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, Catherine Menon, said: "It's not so much whether students are using it in a manner that's improper, but whether students are actually able to recognise when the text they're getting back is not accurate."
Artificial intelligence programmes are not perfect, which Doctor Catherine Menon believes to be their limitation, and where students should be checking the work to produce accurate work.
Among the many softwares used, ChatGPT has been the one causing major discussions in education.
Doctor Menon agrees to its usage, if it can help students perform better.
She said: "ChatGPT is just a tool and universities are not inherently against using it. We use computers, we use different compilers, we use editors."
"ChatGPT is incredibly valuable for summarising."
In turn, Dr Menon believes artificial intelligence tools could become a part of any university curriculum as a means of efficiency.
"You can't turn the clock back, you can't put the genie back in the bottle and as a university lecturer I think we would be doing our students a disservice to say 'here is this tool with all of its capabilities and you can't use it'", she added.