Will Artificial Intelligence replace Teachers?

1. What is “Artificial Intelligence”?

“Rather than Artificial Intelligence it should be called artificial assistance, since the so-called Artificial Intelligence is a program that takes a collection of things that already exist. Intelligence is being able to create something new whereas programs with artificial intelligence cannot create new things, they can only make new combinations. Artificial Intelligence is actually an intelligent assistant, just like washing machines, coffee makers, etc. that help you do some tasks faster and save you time that you can use for other activities.” Sven Frank

So, Artificial Intelligence is a tool that helps us with different and diverse tasks as required.

2. Can IA replace teachers?

This is a question that has caused a stir and clearly has opposing views. Can IA replace us?
Yes… and no. It all depends on the personality of the teacher. Let’s take an example:
If we have a traditional mathematics class, we have the possibility of explaining how to calculate in different ways then, for a percentage of the students that model will be fine while for the other part a different model will be better, the problem is that in a traditional class we do not have the time to teach both, and this is where we can rely on artificial intelligence. One option would be to create a virtual library of videos in conjunction with different teachers of the same subject so that each student has access to different ways of solving the same problem. This would be a personalization of teaching; teaching each student as he needs to learn and not generating a demotivation by only giving him a solution that he does not feel comfortable with or does not understand. Using Artificial Intelligence to develop personalized education and bring it to those places where it is difficult to reach with an entire infrastructure is one of the best ways to take advantage of it.
So, Artificial Intelligence cannot replace us because it cannot interact, it cannot “motivate” the students and that is why it will not replace us.

3. When “if” we will be replaced by IA.

We return to the example of mathematics. We do not need a professor to teach mathematics, because mathematics is pure logic. A video explaining them would suffice. Other subjects such as sewing, cooking or music cannot be learned through videos alone. You can’t learn to play the piano just by watching videos, you need an instrument. Now let’s see what happens in the social sphere. In times past, it was common for children to be traumatized by the mere presence of an extremely strict teacher who imposed punishments on anyone who could not solve a problem. With a video/tutorial explaining the same topic a child is not afraid of being punished if he/she makes a mistake, on the contrary, the child can watch the video over and over again until he/she understands the procedure without fear of being punished.
This is where people’s emotions come in. A teacher who loves his or her profession and has a passion for teaching will always be willing to provide support to children who have difficulty learning. This socioemotional act is something that Artificial Intelligence will never be able to supplant. On the other hand, a person who does not like teaching and only sees it as an obligation of his profession, can even demotivate students, as in most cases where it is common to see that students are afraid to expose their doubts, thus remaining stuck in the subject and causing a greater disinterest in their classes.
Artificial Intelligence can replace us in specific situations where, for example, the student can learn with a video the same subject that could be taught by a teacher.

4. Limitations of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence has been created by people from modern industrial countries, so AI ultimately works with a form of “racism” that is why we must be very careful and always corroborate the information.
Some of the limitations of artificial intelligence are:

• Delayed updates in free versions of certain applications.
• Information bias
• Gender, religious and cultural biases
• Discrimination
• Leakage of confidential information in some cases
• Be careful what you ask for. You need to be precise in what you ask for because sometimes the information is not truthful. Such is the case of the GPT chat that, in order to give you an answer, it creates authors or information that is not real.

5. Personalization of Learning with Artificial Intelligence

A teacher who continues to teach conventional classes does not encourage or promote learning. That is why the advent of Artificial Intelligence opens up endless possibilities.
The best form of personalization is to create interactive activities that capture the attention of your students such as videos, games and we can even create, with the help of AI, quizzes and tests with interaction. Dynamic presentations that encourage students’ memory by helping them to retain information.
If you teach online there are very useful AI tools that can help you create your own avatar.

6. The Importance of Prompt

Prompt is the language of Artificial Intelligence, so it is necessary to know how to handle it properly. In general terms, it is a stimulus for Artificial Intelligence to generate an appropriate and coherent response. As teachers, it is our job to teach students the correct application of this language and to make them very good at communicating with AI.
This skill is not only necessary for students and teachers, but also for anyone who is guided by Artificial Intelligence to learn something new or to expand their knowledge. Otherwise it will only become a useless, disposable tool.

7. Recommendations for not being Substitutable

• Leave conventional teaching methods behind
• Be empathetic with your students and generate social-emotional skills in them.
• Integrate dynamic activities to your classes so that your students are motivated to have a high participation.
• Promotes collaborative learning
• Change the way you evaluate

8. What Happens to the Copyright of Text or Images Generated by AI?

There is still a lot of controversy on this issue as it is still unclear and is still being debated in many countries. Some applications such as Canva, for example, tells us that it does not claim the copyright of the works generated by Artificial Intelligence, but neither does it give us ownership or exclusive use. This of course may vary according to the country where it is generated.

9. Conclusion

Artificial Intelligence is a tool that we must take advantage of to boost the development of education. If we don’t upgrade, these innovations will leave us behind and we will be replaced. The use of Artificial Intelligence should give us the ability to be more creative and to exploit our own potential. Remember that AI does not create new things, we humans are the ones who have the capacity to create new things.

“If in your job you do the same thing every day, that job is not yours, it belongs to a robot… and it will come for it.”

10. References

• Bernal, D. (2023, May). Live, “Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Teachers?”.
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