Running head: TEACHERS CAN NOT BE REPLACED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

OR PERSONALIZED LEARNING

Teachers Can Not Be Replaced by Artificial Intelligence or Personalized Learning

Megan Kalina

Western Oregon University

TEACHERS CAN NOT BE REPLACED 2

Abstract Formatted: Centered

This paper examines artificial intelligence and personalized learning while

establishing its role in education. This paper takes a stance supporting

educators and their critical role in teaching and provides evidence against

personalized learning and artificial intelligence with support from Audrey

Watters, Alfie Kahn, and Neil Postman. This paper also evaluates the other

side of the argument while addressing the ideas from Marvin Minsky, Bill

Gates, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

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Introduction

Humans have been educating youth informally for thousands of years, and since

the colonial times educators have been imparting knowledge to students in a

more formal setting. For the most part, industrial model of school as we know it is

quite similar to the schools our parents attended and similar to the schools our

children do attend. If asked what the main difference is between school now and

school fifty years ago, the majority would insist the answer is an increase of

technological advances being implemented into the classroom. The merging of

technology into the classroom is increasing at an astronomical rate leaving many

wondering what this means for the future of education.

A major educational reform has been on the horizon for many years and

some individuals believe that this reform will include replacing educators with

personalized learning and artificial intelligence. As outlandish as this may seem,

there have been trials of implementing artificial intelligence as well as

personalized learning. Regardless of how intelligent a machine may appear, it

cannot replace the physical interaction and responses of a human being.

Technology cannot replace teachers.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence is creating intelligent machines that carry out tasks that

normally require human intelligence. Marvin Minsky was considered a pioneer in

artificial intelligence, one of the first major proponent for artificial intelligence and

spent countless years promoting the development of AI. In 1959 Minsky founded
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M.I.T.s AI Project that led to countless research papers and led Minksy to

receive the Turing Award in 1969 (Rifkin, 2016). The Turing Award is considered

the computer sciences highest prize. During his time at M.I.T., Minsky inspired

many scientists to explore the field of AI, and he dedicated his entire life to

promoting the needed investment into developing AI. Although his frustration with

the lack of advancements were quite evident, his strong belief that robots would

take over doing every day tasks held true until his recent passing.

Minsky isnt the only one that predicted that teachers will eventually be

replaced with robots. B.F. Skinner compared the ideal classroom to that of a well

functioning mechanized kitchen. Skinner claimed that robots would be more

productive as well as efficient (1956). While humans will never be as automated

as the proposed robots leaching into our classrooms, one cannot possibly feel

sane sending children to a school that functions as well as a kitchen. Teachers

are considered role models. Albert Einstein said it succinctly, Setting an

example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means.

(Ekeren, 1988, p.234). Minksy and SkinnerThese individuals did not reflect on

this important component; if our students are spending the majority of their day

with a robot that is only trained to teach, then what or who do our children

become? Anyone with any experience in education knows that teaching is much

deeper than the subject matter as children are not simple creatures.

Children flourish with human interactions. Much evidence has indicated

that human language is developed through the number of words that are spoken

in a childs home and conversations with parents directly impact reading

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achievement (Ortiz, Stowe, & Arnold, 2001).. This does not include the number of

words a child hears that is attached to a screen or listening in on a phone call.

The research suggests that children from more affluent households spend less

time watching television and more time engaged in face-to-face conversation in

comparison to their peers (Fernald, 2014). Parent involvement with their childs

literacy heavily influences social and emotional development (Fantuzzo &

McWayne, 2002). A screen cannot succeed the physical interaction with a

human being. Furthermore, machines lack the compassion and trust that

educators and parents have earned.

Numerous attempts at replacing a human with artificial intelligence have

been tested with limited success. The Turing test was developed in 1950 by Alan

Turing; this test evaluates whether a machine is intelligent. Very few machines

have passed the Turing test, with only two machines passing to date. The Turing

test only requires 30% of the judges to be fooled into thinking the robot is an

actual human being. With a 70% margin for failure, the Turing test appears to fall

short on convincing people that the results are reliable or valid. A pedalogical

agent named Clippy was supposed to guide people through using Microsoft

Office in 1997. People hated Clippy and much preferred to ask a real human for

help while learning the product (Watters, 2016). Siri is a more recent bot that has

found its way into the hands of many people through the millions that own an

iPhone. Ron Lee tested Siri by asking Siri the same questions that are asked of

Loebner contestants; Siri miserably failed (Wallace, 2013). Siris responses

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ranged from obscure to completely nonsensical. This reiterates the importance

of physical contact, trusted relationships, and human communication.

A final thought on AI is the amount of trust we are giving ourselves in

creating these machines. While Minsky is on the extreme side in support of AI,

especially when he refers to robots replacing humans entirely due to our flawed

features (Minsky, 1994). He refers to our flaws as physical exhaustion, limits in

retention, as well as limits in wisdom. With robots, there would be endless

possibilities with the robot never aging and continually being able to work on a

problem without other distractions that debilitate the workings of our mind. While

these robots may be able to work longer and more thoughtfully with the

possibility of solving major issues such as cancer, with truly intelligent machines,

there would be no control.

If we give too much power to our technological creations, then the

technology becomes greater than us and we lose control (N. Postman, 1998).

The new television series Westworld portrays the potential negative effects of

creating robots. The creators of these robots lose control and the similarities to

humans are too similar to differentiate between whom is human and whom is not.

The only difference is their inhuman qualities, which makes them invincible.

Comparing our future to that of a television show may seem absurd, however,

the similarities to those that support AI and this show is frightening and should

make scientists carefully rethink the aftermath of their future machines.

Neil Postman refers to individuals as giving technology the same standing

as the air we breathe. Technology has become as common as taking a drink of

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water; we give very little thought to how the technology we implement into our

daily lives effects other aspects of our lives. If robots are created that pass the

Turing test with a high percentage of the judges believing they are human, then

we are creating a being that is more intelligent than ourselves. Postman insisted

that we teach our students to be well versed of the effects as well as the history

of technology so we create adults that use technology rather than being used by

it (1996). Technology is a tool and should be treated as such. All tools have their

place and can be valuable, but as with all tools, they can be deadly. Technology

always has side effects; the effects must be weighed carefully and not taken

lightly.

Personalized Learning

The restmajority of this paper will be focused on personalized learning due to the

extreme prevalence and attention being received. Personalized learning uses

technology to personalize the learning experience for the student. Personalized

learning differs from AI as it does not completely replace the human. Another

major difference is that personalized learning is already being implemented in

many schools with many supporters pushing personalized learning into every

school in America.

Supporters of personalized learning claim that the personalization

challenges advanced students while scaffolding other students and bringing the

students up, ultimately closing the achievement gap. In Alfie Kahns article Four Formatted: Font: Italic

Reasons to Worry About Personalized Learning he compared personalized Formatted: Font: Italic
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learning to that of Burger Kings, Have it your way! campaign (2015). The

learning may be personalized, but youre still beginning with the same hunk of

factory-produced frozen beef. Personalized learning does not truly take into

account each learners interest or current development. The software just

decides if you get extra mayonnaise or not. Kahn also emphasizes that true

personalized learning is allow the child to develop their own educational path; the

personalized learning we are providing for children is decided by us (2015).

When he refers to us, he is referring to the creators of the programs that we are

trusting to educate our children. The most troubling factor is these programs are

not being developed by educators that have our students best interests in mind.

Bill Gates and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative are major proponents for the

use of personalized learning in schools, and teamed together providing over 12

million dollars to support their endeavor (Herold, 2017). On the surface it appears

that Gates and Zuckerberg are providing resources to kids and funding pilot

programs for the better of education. However, it does not take much research to

uncover the true motive: money. Gates has jumped from one thing in education

to the next and drawing many skeptics. He has gone from promoting charter

schools to pushing the implementation of the Common Core State Standards,

and now promoting personalized learning. Moving from one big thing to the next

can have consequences that stretch much further than Gates (Reckhow, 2017).

Due to this heavy monetary influence, Gates and Zuckerberg are defining what

personalized education is with very little input from educators (Watters, 2017).

There are research-based practices that personalize learning that do not include
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technology. These practices are over looked, because regardless of possible

repercussions, individuals follow the money (Allington, 2005). Unfortunately, our

education system is built upon marketing and whomever can package the newest

curriculum in the flashiest manner that promises to make teaching easier and

less expensive is the winner.

Time and time again, educators have seen practices based on the same

major theories cycle through their classrooms. The educator is usually forced to

adopt the new best way for the best way to only change a few years later. The

issue lies in the disconnect between the classroom and those that design the

curriculum. The curriculum designers usually have very little experience with

educating children despite their vast experience in their field. Even with the

funding being provided to schools for new programs, the schools are then in turn

forced to provide technology that can properly run the programs. Once the

program and funding fizzles out and the designers have moved on to the next

best thing, leaving schools with expensive technology, confused educators, and

drained funds from already dying programs such as physical education.This

leads to another issue with personalized learning; the children are not creating

their learning experience, which leads to a very impersonalized learning

experience.

Finally, sSupporters of personalized learning are missing a major caveat;

the students need for socialization. Humans are social by nature and

socialization has many educational benefits. Alfie Kahn emphasizes the amount

of learning that takes place through collaboration. Children make sense of their
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world through experiences and feedback from peers. Personalized learning does

not take into account a confused look, misconception, or prompt the child while

the child seeks to fit the new information into their schema. Without socialization,

an even bigger problem ensues. If you ask a child what their favorite part about

going to school is, many students will include playing, talking, or learning with

friends. Students are motivated to attend school and put forth the effort in

lessons because they are motivated. Motivation is a feeling within us that pushes

us to pursue an activity and remain actively engaged (Ormond, 2016). There are

many factors that influences motivation including environment, interaction with

peers, and schemas of an individual. Motivation can manifest itself in many ways

with both internal and external motivation playing a factor into a students

willingness to engage in material. Therefore, personalized learning and learning

games need to be used sparingly. Video games can be used effectively to

increase motivation as well as personalize learning (Gee, 2008). If video games

are used as the only mode of instruction, then the students become uninterested

because playing video games incessantly eventually loses its appeal. Without

motivation which teachers spend a lot of time building in their classroom,

students will not engage with the software rendering it completely useless.

Conclusion

Educators must be willing to stand up for what is best practice for their students.

Our students are already being inundated with personalized learning experiences

that are anything but personal. Students are spending hours testing each year
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with the information providing little regard to the instructional design component

of teaching. Educators need to be well versed in the happenings of educational

technology or it will swallow them whole and take their students with them

(Postman, 1996). It is physically possible for teachers to be replaced with robots,

but this is only possible if we allow us to be replaced. Educators know they are

not replaceable; they just need to find their voice and tell others the same.

Artificial intelligence and personalized learning are here to stay, but they need to

find their way out of education.

References

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