Schools targeted with AI learning apps

PARIS, Dec 14 (AFP): Apps infused with AI are being marketed to schools across the world and governments are rushing to embrace the technology, despite experts raising serious doubts.

The sector known as Ed Tech exploded during the Covid pandemic as schools closed to stop the spread of infection and millions of children were forced to learn in front of screens at home.

As demand dried up after schools reopened, Ed Tech startups tried to win back investment by adding AI to their products and marketing.

Tech titans like Microsoft, Meta and OpenAI have also spied an opportunity, promoting their AI products to schools or partnering with startups.

While many education ministries have announced plans to deploy AI apps, there are plenty of dissenting voices.

The UN's education body UNESCO last year eviscerated the record of online learning during Covid, saying the rapid rollout of tech solutions was a "tragedy" that had increased inequality and worsened learning outcomes.

UNESCO's Manos Antoninis told AFP that AI might have some utility in education but right now it "seems to be creating more problems than it is solving".

He cited concerns that companies were using data for commercial purposes, deployed biased algorithms and overall were less concerned with educational outcomes than with their bottom line.

"I think the unfortunate thing is that education has been used as a bit of a Trojan horse to access future consumers," he said.

During the pandemic boom in 2021, venture capitalists pumped more than $17 billion into Ed Tech. But that has slumped to $3 billion this year, about the same as last year, according to analysts PitchBook.

But from North Carolina to South Korea it is a different story, where education officials have been encouraging teachers to use generative AI.

Britain has already rolled out a homework app called Sparx Maths that uses algorithms to tailor children's learning.

It recently announced a further multimillion-dollar outlay on AI programmes to "ease the pressure" on hard-working teachers by helping with lesson plans, marking and assessment.

The European Union supports several learning apps, and several EU countries have experimented with them.

China is a huge booster of AI in the classroom and has a national strategy for digitising education -- its centrepiece being a national education platform of tools and online courses.