The Artificial Intelligence revolution is transforming education at an unprecedented pace, offering innovative opportunities to personalize learning experiences, support teachers and students in their daily tasks, and optimize educational management. So what can be done to best manage access and maximize the opportunities for young people so they are ready to join the workforce?
In this episode of Expert Answers we are joined by Jaime Saavedra, Human Development Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank Group and former Minister of Education in Peru. He¡¯ll unpack the data and experiences of the region.
Timestamps
Welcome
Learning crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean
The role of artificial intelligence in transforming education
Risks of using AI in education
AI, education and future workforce
Closure
Transcript
[00:00] - Today on Expert Answers, we're going back to school. The subject? Education and AI. Both of these will have an impact on the opportunities for young people. In the developing world, the number of young people of working age is set to outstrip the number of jobs in the next decade, so they potentially face a more difficult jobs market. Ensuring that education serves them well is one important part of confronting the jobs challenge. But in low and middle-income countries, 70% of 10 year olds can't read or comprehend a simple text. So can AI innovations in education help to move the needle? World Bank Group research in Latin America and the Caribbean has identified nine AI-based innovations in education. They range from AI-powered tutors, which can assist learning, to AI lesson plans for teachers, and even early warning systems to help institutions to identify students in danger of dropping out. But as AI systems are primarily developed in the global north, does using them in the developing world risk missing crucial local needs, perpetuating biases, and undermining critical thinking? Essentially, is AI in education a help or hindrance? Let's find out more. Jaime Saavedra is Human Development Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank, he was also Minister of Education in Peru from 2013 to 2016. Jaime, welcome to "Expert Answers."
- Thank you so much for the invitation.
- So you've said before that Latin American and the Caribbean is facing a serious learning crisis. What's the current state of education in the region?
- As you say, we have a very serious crisis, and I'm not sure if the region and all policy makers and society is really internalizing the magnitude of the challenge that we have. For instance, even before the pandemic, more than half of students, half of 10 year olds, were not able to read a simple text with understanding. And that number in Latin America is above 70% after the pandemic. If we look at secondary education students, about three-fourths do not have the minimum proficiency in math, and about half do not have the minimum proficiency in reading, right? That's a extremely serious challenge. If we compare Latin America with OECD countries, the difference is about five years, if we compare 15 year olds. The other problem is that what is the trend, right? Because you could be doing not so well but improving, right? But that's not the case. There are a few countries that have made some improvements in the last 10 years, like Brazil, like Peru. So there's some green shoots, some providency in Argentina, but overall, the trend, right, is an extremely slow improvement. So at that pace, the closing of the gap between Latin America and the richer countries, it will take decades, right? And that in a context in which we say that our students have to finish their primary and secondary cycle, not only with foundational skills, we say they need digital skills, they need social-emotional skills, they need technical skills in order to continue to the labor market, or into higher education. So we are putting a larger challenge to the education system in a context in which our kids are not even getting the foundational skills.
- And do you think AI can transform education in the region? What can countries do to take advantage of that opportunity?
- Look, AI has the potential to make sure that this gap is not closed in decades, but in a much shorter time. But for that to happen, we need to put the enabling conditions. And the enabling conditions are making sure that we have the infrastructure, the devices, the connectivity, which were not there yet in the region, but, more important, we need to invest in the human factor, right? Because actually it's teachers who will be able to use technology in order to prepare better their lesson plans, in order to personalize learning, in order to assess how students are doing faster, and to make the educational experience and that human interaction more productive, more interesting in the classroom. So, yes, there's a gigantic potential, but for that, we need to invest on the infrastructure in a connectivity side, on one hand, but more importantly on the human factor.
- And clearly, AI is generating a lot of excitement, but also concerns in the education sector. What are the risks associated with the use of AI in education, and how can countries address them?
- Right. So look, the first thing that you hear is that technology might replace teachers. I don't think that's gonna happen, right? Education is about human interaction, right? Education is about teachers being able to motivate students, teachers being able to instill creativity, to instill critical thinking. And the good teachers know that their job is not to teach, right, or to provide knowledge only, their job is to make sure that all students learn. And for that to happen, technology can be a fantastic tool in order to leverage teachers, right? So I don't see that's the risk, but as I was saying before, if we do the right investments, technology can really help teachers and schools to provide better education. The risk that I see, and actually something that really worries us a lot is inequality. Why do I say that? Because from what I'm seeing, technology has the potential to be a huge equalizer of opportunities, right, all students and all schools can access this. But, today, that's not happening. In Latin America today, you can see that in one large city in the region, there is one school in which all students are already today using ChatGPT, teachers are well-familiarized with digital technologies, everyone has devices, there is a broadband connection, there's great infrastructure, there are great materials. And just a few miles away in that same city, there will be a school that doesn't even have the basic infrastructure, not even in connectivity, right? If there was a difference between those two schools two years ago, today, the difference between those schools is larger, right? So that is the gigantic challenge that we must address in Latin America.
- That's very interesting. Let's take a step further. We've heard that AI will herald a revolution in society, similar to the printing press, and that it will impact workforces globally. But by introducing AI into the classroom, is there any hope that it will equip students to become masters of it by the time they enter the jobs market?
- I don't think if I would use the word hope, I would use the word responsibility, right? It is our responsibility to equip students, right, with all those tools that they need in order to thrive in the labor market, and to thrive in life, right? But that's very challenging today, because think of a secondary school in Latin America. We're telling that secondary school, that principal and those teachers, "You need to provide students, equip students, with digital technologies, with social-emotional skills, with technical skills, right, In order to be able to continue to tertiary education, to higher education, or to go to the labor market," right? But those secondary schools are now inheriting, receiving students that don't even have the foundational skills of basic literacy and numeracy, right? So then they must do some remedial education to give those foundational skills, and in addition, provide all these other set of skills that we are talking about. So that's a very, very tough challenge for secondary schools in our region. But it's a challenge that we must address. Nobody said that education policy was easy, it is difficult, it's challenging, but it is our responsibility to do what is needed and to invest what is needed to equip children with other skills that they need for life.
- Jaime, thank you so much for such an interesting conversation about a very timely topic.
- Thank you so much.
- Hope to see you next time. Thanks again to Jaime. If you'd like to take a deeper dive into the research mentioned in this episode, check out "AI Revolution In Education: What You Need to Know" on the Publication section of our website. That's all for today. Thank you for watching Expert Answers.
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