AI as the teachers’ special best friend? The school’s marketing, AI, and the teacher’s role.

Skolans marknadisering, AI och lärarrollen

Abstract

There are many forces in society that are pushing for increased digitization, not least in the field of education, where industry organizations such as the Swedish Ed Tech Industry are leading the way for Sweden to become a leader in the field. Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a central feature of this digitization over the past 5–10 years. Internationally, this field is often called artificial intelligence education (AIed). Several researchers have pointed out that the use of AI in the field of education raises both hope and concerns. Thus, there are divided opinions about digitization and AI’s ever-increasing role in schools. Not infrequently, AI leads to a rather polarized debate, where human values are pitted against financial ones. The present article problematizes this space, between human and financial values, with a starting point in special pedagogy connected to three overarching themes: marketization, AI and machine learning, and the teacher’s role. Specifically, the article revolves around the following questions: What problems are there with external actors and increased marketing within the field of special education? What is happening to the special education profession and educational development?

This is an exploratory study that employs a Foucault-inspired approach to analyse the consequences that AIed has in the field of education (Foucault 2008; 2014a; 2014b). The material consists of interviews, newspaper articles, features from SVT, and tech companies’ websites and reports. The results point to the EdTech industry having consequences for the teaching role, not least in connection with the special education profession. Several areas of the school are being incorporated by companies and different services. In many respects, it is unclear who controls what happens at the policy level as well as in the individual classroom and for the individual. This article shows how research and entrepreneurship flow together, and it is often indistinct where one ends and the other begins. This shows it can be difficult to discern the responsibilities of schools, or research, or companies.

Thus, there are several tensions around the role that AI should have in schools. This article discusses whether AI is a neutral and cost-effective technology that provides the opportunity for individually adapted teaching and provides financial benefits for the school, or whether it contributes to increased and difficult-to-overview costs for the school and, furthermore, to impersonal machine teaching. Machine learning is an application of AI that includes algorithms which interpret data and translate it into individual tasks. Loops and other machine use can in that way contribute to helping both the student and the teacher to map the needs and specify what needs to be worked on. AI and machine learning and ‘intelligent touting’ can enable simplified and individualized teaching; this has been called ‘intelligent formative feedback’. But what happens when the individual student is no longer dependent on the teacher’s direct attention? Increased digitization and AI technologies can contribute to ‘empowerment’ for the student, especially for those students with special needs.

It is believed that AI can strongly contribute to reducing teachers’ burdensome administration, facilitate teaching, and save millions. However, there is a concern among teachers that AI and the machines will ‘take over’. The Swedish Edtech Industry and tech companies call this a misguided criticism: AI will never replace teachers, just complete them. Nonetheless, some criticism has raised questions on whether data-driven AI assessment will trump teachers’ assessment and how this affects teachers’ autonomy in the long run. Concerns have also been expressed that teachers will lose their professional connection, that AI will replace teachers, or that they will just become a function that ensures that the right digital equipment is available in the classroom. There have also been some warnings about control and monitoring students and examples of far-reaching AI use to shape policy in education. From that perspective, the social and ethical consequences are seen as profound and problematic.