AI in Education: Implications for Inclusivity and Equity

The potential of AI in being the harbinger of change and empowering education is one of the key focus of discussions in education sector. Even UNESCO and UN aligned bodies promote AI in education as one of the tools to accelerate SDG 4 (inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all) and as one of the non-negotiable guiding principles. for inclusivity and equity. Globally, about 260 million (“250 Million Children Out-of-School”) children remain out of school, and this number is unequally distributed. Out-of- school population remains high among children from developing and underdeveloped nations, marginalized communities, girls, regions in conflict zones and among children with differential needs. In India, there is a huge rural-urban gap in access to education, facilities and availability of teachers. This gap poses a curious challenge as India is also witnessing growth in literacy rates.

One of the most significant contributions of AI in education is its ability to generate personalized learning experiences, which is a challenge in traditional classrooms where the teacher-student ratio often doesn’t allow for steady individualized attention, and constraints of time and curricula. The technology of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) is emerging as powerful tools that can directly address these gaps. Google Labs’ NotebookLM (https://notebooklm.google/) is the latest example of a modern LLM-powered ITS with its tagline of understand anything. Its strength lies in it being strongly grounded in user provided sources. For example, a user can upload multiple sources in the first column, which are either summarized and also broken down into smaller digestible chunks in the middle column called chat. The user can extend their understanding further by engaging with the questions that are generated in this column. The third column, which is the studio, is truly an empowering tool not only for students but also teachers. The uploaded material can be converted into flash cards, quiz, slide deck, video overview, mind maps, audio overview, infographics, data table and reports. The implications of this ITS goes beyond education as it can also be effectively used in many professions. Since it is dependent on user uploaded sources, there is no scope of AI-self generated false information. Thus, the implications of ITS in making education accessible by helping in knowledge formation and developing critical thinking are tremendous.

India continues to face challenges in teacher training and acute shortage of teachers. India has over 1 million (10 lakh +) teacher vacancies across elementary and secondary levels (“Why Is India Struggling to Fill Its Teacher Vacancies?”) and are proportionately higher in rural regions, government schools and less-developed states. The infrastructure of schools in these states is far weaker. Interestingly one of the key foci of developing AI technologies for education has been to replace teachers with such technologies with the intention of making education accessible. However, even if this solution to teacher shortage may seem like a good idea, one needs to be more cautious. Teachers and educators, in many ways, are part of small category of professionals who have the highest contact rate with children or learners of any age. Teachers and educators disseminate more than formal curriculum. Thus, AI technologies to advance inclusion and equity in education must develop with the aim of teachers’ capabilities.

For many Indians, proficiency in English is seen as a key to a higher socio-economic ladder. The Pearson Global English Proficiency Report 2024 (“India Ranks Above Global Average in Speaking English”) noted that although India’s average English skills score (52) falls below the global average (57), its average English-speaking score (57) exceeds the global benchmark (54). However, many Indians continue to struggle with language acquisition and communication competencies — English and foreign. Duolingo, a Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL), is one of the easily available apps to meet this end. These competencies are necessary not just for communication but also making professional sector inclusive to a wider socio-economic background. Development of MALL technology has enriched the e-learning format and can be seen as an “alternative approach to access to learning resources on mobile phones” (Peláez-Sánchez and Velásquez-Durán). Apps like Duolingo, Babbel, Memrise, Busuu, and LingoDeer have gamified language acquisition. When combined with ChatGPT, the MALL applications’ effectiveness for creating a more equitable society increases exponentially.

In 2022, a collaboration between Amazon and the National Association of the Blind, Uttar Pradesh, led to distribution of Alexa, a cloud based virtual personal assistant technology, at Bachpan Day Care Centre, which is run by the UP department of empowerment of persons with disability. A total of 10 speakers were given to 10 schools and special centres for disabled children (“Tech Shift Kindles Flame of Learning”).  Access to assistive technology remains a challenge in Global South. However, Alexa not only led to an increase in attendance but also in significant increased learning in subjects like English, mathematics, science, history, vocabulary and general knowledge as shared by Aman Singh, an intermediate blind student from Jhansi. Use of Alexa as an enabler for special education has given the students and teachers a new “hope” (“See How Alexa Helps These Educators Make Learning Inclusive”). These schools are in remote areas where accessibility of transport is a real challenge. Apart from adding an element of fun, Alexa’s ability to understand local dialects, be trained in different languages and being able to go beyond the textbook content makes it an AI technology capable of forging true inclusivity (of ability, linguistic diversity, regional and gender) and equity in education.

However, one must also acknowledge the challenges that continue to exist which hinder in making AI technologies more meaningful. Apart from the continued inherent bias in training the AI models, issues like concerns over privacy and human rights, constraints of infrastructure (internet access, availability of device), computer literacy, ethical awareness, to list a few, would need to be addressed to fully utilise its potential.

While use of AI in education is said to have democratised education, for it be to truly democratised, inclusive and ensure equity, the different stakeholders need to come together to develop AI technologies as one that are intended for common good rather than for private or sectorial good. This would include reimagining allocation of resources and cost of devices. For example, though Alexa can be found in homes, it is not affordable for all nor serviceable in area without internet or electricity; and this undermines its true potential for creating inclusivity and ensuring equity. Additionally, these AI applications and systems need to be more environmentally sustainable to further ensure continued equity based on access to natural resources. The adoption and integration of AI technologies in education can not only emerge as a great equalizer between Global North and Global South by enabling personalised and constructivist learning that builds knowledge through active engagement but foster greater inclusivity and equity.

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