Artificial Intelligence in Education:Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Development

【譯題】 教育中的人工智能：可持續發展的機遇和挑戰

Product by UNESCO and ProFuturo Foundation聯合國教科文組織和布羅孚圖盧基金

Artificial Intelligence （AI） is producing new teaching and learning solutions that are currently being tested globally. These solutions require advanced infrastructures and an ecosystem of thriving innovators. How does that affect countries around the world， and especially developing nations？ Should AI be a priority to tackle in order to reduce the digital and social divide？

These are some of the questions explored in a Working Paper entitled ‘Artificial Intelligence in Education： Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Development presented by UNESCO and ProFuturo at Mobile Learning Week 2019. It features cases studies on how AI technology is helping education systems use data to improve educational equity and quality.

Concrete examples from countries such as China， Brazil and South Africa are examined on AIs contribution to learning outcomes， access to education and teacher support. Case studies from countries including the United Arab Emirates， Bhutan and Chile are presented on how AI is helping with data analytics in education management.

The Paper also explores the curriculum and standards dimension of AI， with examples from the European Union， Singapore and the Republic of Korea on how learners and teachers are preparing for an AI-saturated world.

Beyond the opportunities， the Paper also addresses the challenges and policy implications of introducing AI in education and preparing students for an AI-powered future. The challenges presented revolve around：

Developing a comprehensive view of public policy on AI for sustainable development： The complexity of the technological conditions needed to advance in this field require the alignment of multiple factors and institutions. Public policies have to work in partnership at international and national levels to create an ecosystem of AI that serves sustainable development.

Ensuring inclusion and equity for AI in education： The least developed countries are at risk of suffering new technological， economic and social divides with the development of AI. Some main obstacles such as basic technological infrastructure must be faced to establish the basic conditions for implementing new strategies that take advantage of AI to improve learning.

Preparing teachers for an AI-powered education： Teachers must learn new digital skills to use AI in a pedagogical and meaningful way and AI developers must learn how teachers work and create solutions that are sustainable in real-life environments.

Developing quality and inclusive data systems： If the world is headed towards the datafication of education， the quality of data should be the main chief concern. It′s essential to develop state capabilities to improve data collection and systematization. AI developments should be an opportunity to increase the importance of data in educational system management.

Enhancing research on AI in education： While it can be reasonably expected that research on AI in education will increase in the coming years， it is nevertheless worth recalling the difficulties that the education sector has had in taking stock of educational research in a significant way both for practice and policy-making.

Dealing with ethics and transparency in data collection， use and dissemination： AI opens many ethical concerns regarding access to education system， recommendations to individual students， personal data concentration， liability， impact on work， data privacy and ownership of data feeding algorithms. AI regulation will require public discussion on ethics， accountability， transparency and security.

The key discussions taking place at Mobile Learning Week 2019 address these challenges， offering the international educational community， governments and other stakeholders a unique opportunity to explore together the opportunities and threats of AI in all areas of education.

人工智能（AI）不斷為教學和學習提供新的解決方案，并在全球范圍內接受檢驗。這些解決方案需要先進的基礎設施和積極創新的教育生態系統與之配套。這對世界各國，尤其是發展中國家有何影響？人工智能應該成為縮小數字和社會鴻溝的優先事項嗎？

聯合國教科文組織和布羅孚圖盧（ProFuturo）在2019年移動學習周期間發布了《教育中的人工智能：可持續發展的機遇和挑戰》工作報告，并在其中探究了這些問題。文件以人工智能技術如何幫助教育系統利用數據推動教育平等、提高教育質量為核心，分析了相關研究案例。

借助中國、巴西、南非等國的具體事例，文件研究了人工智能對學習成果、受教育機會和教師支持的影響。阿聯酋、不丹和智利等國的案例則佐證了人工智能如何推動教育管理中的數據分析工作。

此外，文件還探討了關于人工智能的課程和標準問題，并列舉了歐盟、新加坡和韓國的案例，以探討學生和教師如何為面對充滿人工智能的世界做好準備。

在分析機遇的同時，文件也闡述了將人工智能引入教育、幫助學生為人工智能未來做好準備時，所遇到的挑戰和所收獲的政策啟示。這些挑戰主要表現在以下幾個方面。

提升制定全面的人工智能公共政策的能力，助力實現可持續發展：推動該領域發展所需的技術環境十分復雜，這要求多種因素和制度保持和諧一致。必須在國際和國內層面開展公共政策合作，進而建立一個服務于可持續發展的人工智能生態系統。

在教育中應用人工智能時確保包容性和公平性：伴隨著人工智能的發展，最不發達國家面臨著新的技術、經濟和社會分化所帶來的種種風險。我們必須直面基本技術基礎設施等主要障礙，以創造基本條件，貫徹通過人工智能改善學習的新戰略。

幫助教師為人工智能輔助教育做好準備：教師必須掌握新的數字技能，方能以恰當的方式借助人工智能推動教學;人工智能開發人員必須了解教師的工作方式，并創建在現實環境中可持續的解決方案。

發展優質且包容的數據系統：世界正走向教育數據化，數據質量因此應成為主要關注點。提高國家能力進而改善數據的收集和系統化的工作具有關鍵意義。人工智能的發展應為提高數據在教育系統管理中的重要性提供機會。

加強教育領域人工智能應用的研究：雖然我們能夠預見教育領域人工智能的相關研究在未來幾年會有所增加，但仍應牢記，教育系統為了促進實踐和決策而大力推動教育研究評估時，仍存在著困難。

處理數據的采集、使用和傳播過程中引發的倫理和透明度問題：人工智能在提供教育機會、向學生提供個體化建議、個人數據的集中、責任歸屬、對工作的影響、數據隱私和數據饋送算法的所有權方面引發了許多倫理問題。實現人工智能監管需要公眾圍繞倫理、問責、透明度和安全性展開討論。

2019年移動學習周的關鍵討論活動關注這些挑戰，為國際教育界、各國政府和其他利益相關者提供了一個獨特的機會，共同探討人工智能給教育的各個領域帶來的機遇和威脅。