Personally, I’ve always been a fan of AI, but a recent article from Psychology Today’s magazine should impose some caution regarding AI’s application in education. The article’s author states a fact that is becoming increasingly obvious in our ever-digital world: machines cannot supplant the human element that is so critical in interpersonal relationships. As it relates to education, AI cannot generate the same results that a human educator can, and this is becoming apparent in psychology and ed-tech research.
The article states, “In fact, after analyzing data from thousands of studies, educational researcher John Hattie has reported that a strongly empathetic student-teacher relationship imparts 2.5 times greater impact on learning than does one-on-one instruction alone.” In other words, empathy is the secret ingredient to student success, and AI “can’t motivate and inspire the way an empathetic relationship can.”
While I won’t dive into the specifics of how this works neurobiologically (using the article’s terminology, which includes technocratic language like “neuronal coupling” and “oxytocin release”, puts me at risk of sounding like an expert in a field that I am completely unfamiliar with!), I can speak to how useless AI can be when it comes to mimicking the role of a tutor. While it can certainly generate endless streams of information (though not all of it accurate or up to date), chatbots will never have that “personal touch” that I have found is so important to ensuring a student meets and exceeds the demands of their coursework or test preparation.
At best, a chatbot can offer platitudes of encouragement, but it is and will never be the same as a human tutor. The same even applies to online learning programs where students complete their coursework remotely without any direct involvement from the teacher or professor. Unsurprisingly, the article cites a study where “85 percent of tuition-free students and over 50 percent of fee-paying students never complete online learning programs.” Because, again, the passive reception of information with little emotional incentive makes it difficult for students to motivate themselves to reach their goals.
As such, I firmly believe that learning will always be an inherently interpersonal process. Subtracting half of the human element—the educator—deprives the student of someone who can relate to the student’s struggles, encourage them to do better, and assist them throughout the process. An AI chatbot simply can’t do these things, and—in my humble opinion—the people saying that it can generally lack a background in education. While AI continues to show promising advancements in leveling the playing field in education, it should not be treated as a panacea nor as a replacement for an educational system that has proven its worth over time.
