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Redmenta AI-cademy: Is AI in education ethical?

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education has the potential to revolutionize education but it also raises several legal and ethical concerns. What can teachers do? 

The ethical concerns of AIED (Artificial Intelligence in Education) have led to many debates in recent years among teachers and lawmakers. The Institute for Ethical AI in Education, established in 2018 by key market players such as McGraw Hill, Microsoft Corporation, Nord Anglia Education, and Pearson PLC, highlights the importance of this topic.

They spent 2.5 years to create The Ethical Framework for AI in Education grounded in a shared vision of ethical Al in education and will help to enable all learners to benefit optimally from Al in education, whilst also being protected against the risks this technology presents.

Moreover, at the end of 2022,  the European Commision published its ethical guideline to educators. 

The four ethical considerations 

The EU Report defines 4 different but interdependent ethical considerations that need to be considered when using AI and data in education and training:
 
  • Agency: How can we ensure that AI in education helps students become competent actors in a technology-mediated world?
  • Social fairness: How can we ensure that AI in education doesn't amplify existing inequalities?
  • Humanity: How can we respect the dignity of all humans and avoid treating them as a means to an end?
  • Justified choice: How can we ensure that AI in education is used to justify arguments and not as a tool for discrimination? 
 
Social fairness reflects the distribution of rights, responsibilities, resources, and power among different social groups generating a social dimension in ethics. As discussed in our previous post (The Future of Essay), AI could amplify educational inequalities. Students who have access to AI tools may have an unfair advantage over their peers who do not, leading to further disparities in academic achievement.
 
Ethics is also about what it is to be human. To be an ethical human requires that we respect others and try to understand the world through the eyes of others. This implies o penness, humility, and willingness to listen and learn. It also suggests that all humans have dignity and cannot be treated as a means to an end. This aspect of ethics is about humanity.
 
Justified choice captures that ethics is deeply linked with our ideas on what counts as knowledge, fact, and evidence and how these can be used to justify arguments. This aspect of ethics concerns questions on an acceptable argument, the concept of rationality, and the processes used to negotiate different points of view and value systems. This requires transparency and leads to participatory and collaborative models of decision-making. 
 

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What can teachers do for an ethical AIED? 

1. Protect privacy

AI systems can collect and analyze vast amounts of student data, including sensitive information such as demographic data and learning disabilities. Teachers must understand how this data is collected, stored and who has access to it to protect student privacy. We recommend using tools such as Redmenta AI, where students' data is safe.
Educating students about the importance of privacy, data protection, and their ethical implications is also essential.
 

2. Ensure equality

AI systems like grades and college admissions can also impact student outcomes. Teachers need to ensure that these systems are fair and do not discriminate against certain groups of students.
 

3. Foster digital citizenship

According to Jaime Ramos's definition digital citizenship refers to the application of a code or standard for the responsible use of countless resources or access routes offered by the digital universe: from a computer or smartphone to more advanced forms such as the  metaverse or AI-based engines.
Teachers need to help their students become responsible digital citizens and make informed decisions when using AI tools both in and outside the classroom.
 

Want to incorporate ethical AI into your teaching?

 

Sources:

European Commission, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, Final report of the Commission expert group on artificial intelligence and data in education and training – A executive summary, Publications Office of the European Union, 2022, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2766/65087