Norfolk teacher says AI can help with basic tasks and reduce staff's workload
Sir Ian Bauckham, interim chief regulator at Ofqual, said artificial intelligence can help create question papers for students
A teacher in Norfolk is telling us that 'Artificial Intelligence' can and should play a role in schools when it comes to admins tasks and help reduce staff's workload.
It's after the head of England's exams regulator has suggested that AI can help create exam questions for students- to avoid repetition of what was on papers in previous years.
"Having that transparency, along with checks and balances will be key"
Scott Lyons works in Norwich and also works for the 'National Education Union' :
He says there are somethings that will always need 'human oversight' though:
"Teachers bring that professional judgement and relationship-building that AI can't replicate. The whole point of this idea is to save people time, so they can focus more of their efforts on doing the parts of the job that they enjoy and do well."
"AI does also lack a good handle on things like context, it's why teachers do such significant training. There's also the risk of over-reliance on technology and there's always a bias in AI. Therefore having that transparency, along with checks and balances will be key
What's been suggested, in more detail:
Sir Ian Bauckham, interim chief regulator at Ofqual told MPs on the Education Select Committee that it was "imperative" that a human oversees the marking of students' work as the public still wants this process in place for qualifications.
Sir Ian, who has served in the role since January, has been selected as the Government's preferred candidate for the permanent position.
During his pre-appointment hearing before the committee, Sir Ian said: "There are lots and lots of useful, helpful, quality improving things AI can do, but marking work itself must be overseen by a human being."
He added: "There is potential, I think, for some very exciting uses of AI for the generation of question papers, for comparing question papers year-on-year."
The Ofqual chief said generating question papers which are roughly the same level of difficulty each year is "labour intensive" and "difficult".
Sir Ian said: "It may well be that AI can support with that.
"My judgment would be that there are fewer risks to public confidence there, providing a human is in the loop for final sign-off, than in the actual marking of student work."
The chief regulator said: "Decisions made by AI evaluating a piece of work that a student has produced for a high-stakes assessment are less transparent and therefore less open to challenge than they might be if marked by a human.
"You can't easily ask a computer to explain to you why it's made a judgment about the marking of your work in a way that you can ask an examiner to explain that."
He told MPs that the vast majority of GCSE and A-level assessments involve "some degree of extended writing" which would need a human to look at.
But Sir Ian acknowledged that there could be some "very simple, selective response items", such as multiple choice questions, which could be marked safely by a machine but with a human checking the process.
What happens next?
On Tuesday, Ofsted announced that it has been asked by the Government to carry out an independent review of AI in education.
The review will investigate how schools and colleges in England are already using AI, and how leaders are managing risks associated with AI use.