Embracing Artificial Intelligence based Adaptive Learning

Humankind has been trying for years to replicate the natural intelligence artificially in various areas of human life, ranging from banking sector to marketing industry. With years of work, humans have been finally able to successfully integrate artificial intelligence into these sectors to act for good! But somehow, our methods of education do not reflect us embracing this modern technology to its full potential. This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) based adaptive learning comes into the equation. AI based adaptive learning also known as adaptive teaching method is an educational method which uses AI algorithms to provide customized learning resources to cover the unique requirements of each particular student.

This makes me wander more on one of the quotes by the genius mind of Albert Einstein:

"Education is not the learning of knowledge but training of the mind to think"

This is true in every regard but not every mind is the same as the other one. It has its own different tendencies and capabilities and hence requires a particular type of training which varies for each and everyone. Every mind i.e the person, has a different learning rate and areas of interest yet each and everyone of us has been learning the same thing over and over forever. That is why AI based adaptive learning might be one of the best choices for revolutionizing our education system for good in this ever changing world.

Adaptive Learning is not an entirely new concept. It was first worked upon by American psychologist and behaviorist B.F. Skinner in the 1950s who devised a teaching machine that focused on incremental skill building. After that researchers started to integrate Artificial Intelligence into this unique idea and now we stand on the brink of adapting a modern education method in its true sense and change for good.

AI based adaptive learning is not about replacing tutors with robots or intelligent systems, but in fact it is more about learning a particular student's education requirements, performance measures and how the student can improve them, education goals and all of the required information and then able to provide a proper guidance to able to achieve those particular goals through customized resources. This is done by using multiple computer algorithms and models such as Content-based filtering which will predict an appropriate recommendation to a particular student based on their data.

This learning method can be implemented in various areas such as K-12 education levels, under-graduate studies, graduate studies, doctorate studies, corporate training or be it may to acquire a small skill such as learning a new language. This has various advantages such as decreasing the mentor training resources, helping the student choose the best topics for themselves, improving flexibility, boosting engagement with the course for a continuous learning, providing analytical feedback and helps in knowledge retention. This goes to show that this method seems to be an advantageous for both students and mentors!

One may not realize but various ed-tech companies have already been using this method for years to cater to the needs of their users, and one of the most famous examples of this is Duolingo. The success of these companies in helping their users gain knowledge with ease is very promising for AI based adaptive learning. The question now remains is when will the future generation be able to use this learning method in its full potential!