Welcome to Students Incorporated. I'm your host,
Mr. Jason. Join me weekly as my students and
I bring you content that's informative, positive,
fun, and uplifting. This podcast is created and
produced with the help of students from the International
Community School of Bangkok. Hello everyone and
welcome back to the show. Today I'm joined by
James, Esther, and a few other student guests.
Let me start with this question first. What if
the smartest person in your class wasn't a person
at all, not a student, and not even the teacher?
Well, for millions of students right now, and
teachers, that's not science fiction. It's actually
reality. Artificial intelligence is no longer
just a concept. It's a constant companion in
the classroom, and its power is growing at an
incredible speed. I saw this firsthand just the
other day in one of my technology classes here
at school. I wanted to demonstrate what some
of these tools can actually do. I gave an AI
a simple prompt. Create a one -page responsive
website template using only HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
In less than a minute, literally, it generated
the entire block of code. We tested it through
a browser and it worked perfectly. That moment
was quite amazing in class. The students were
quite amazed, actually. But it also raises a
massive question. These tools promise a revolutionary
future for learning and work, but are they actually
helping us learn and think critically, or are
they quietly making us more dependent? Before
we can look at that question, let's get our quote
of the day and get some headline news. Our quote
of the day comes from Elon Musk. He's quoted
to have said, This quote reflects the fundamental
duality of AI. On one hand, AI could potentially
solve some of the most pressing problems the
world has at the moment, such as curing diseases,
technological advancements, and other relevant
topics. However, it could also surpass human
intelligence and become uncontrollable, which
will ultimately lead to catastrophic consequences.
Elon highlights the risks that come with AI,
specifically as superintelligence that, without
proper ethical framework, could cause harm to
humanity. And that's our quote of the day. Now
on to some headline news. Thank you, James, for
our quote of the day. Our first story comes from
the United Kingdom. A recent article in The Guardian
says that almost 7 ,000 college students in the
UK were caught using AI tools like ChatGPD to
cheat last year. The number is way higher than
in previous years, and experts think it's just
the beginning. Many schools don't even have the
technology yet to fully catch AI use. This is
raising big questions about how schools should
test students in the future. and whether traditional
exams and essays might need to change. Our next
story takes us to Louisiana. According to We
Are With New Orleans, an AI program called Amira
is helping kids learn how to read. It listens
while students read out loud and gives them real
-life time coaching. The cool part is that it
also speaks Spanish, which makes it really helpful
for kids who are learning English as their second
language. Louisiana has put over $3 million into
expanding the program, which means about 100
,000 more students will get access to it over
the next two years. And finally, we head to South
Korea. The Korea Herald reports that the government
there is ending its AI digital textbook program.
The project was really expensive, about $380
million, but not very popular. Only about 30
% of schools actually use the digital textbooks,
and many parents and teachers weren't happy with
them. Now the government has to wind down the
program, leaving schools and publishers wondering
what comes next. And those are your headlines
for today. Thank you. Have a great day. Thank
you for the quote and the headline news. In this
first segment, we'll be diving into something
that's on everyone's mind right now, artificial
intelligence in education. We've all seen how
quickly AI is changing the world, and it's making
its way into schools too. The big question we're
asking is, how do we make sure students get smarter,
not dumber, while AI keeps getting smarter and
more powerful? Personally, we can all be quite
lazy with how we utilize AI. But to delve deeper
into this, we're looking at a couple of real
-life case studies. One from the UK, where students
are experimenting with AI to help teachers, and
one from South Korea, where AI tutors are already
part of the classroom experience. Yeah, these
two are very different approaches, but they both
show how AI is reshaping learning. Let's start
with the UK. So our first case study is from
the United Kingdom, the UK. So in the UK, schools
have been testing AI systems that help teachers
with planning lessons and grading assignments.
The government has even invested in AI tools
that can mark writing tasks, give feedback, and
free up a teacher's time. The idea is that if
teachers spend less time grading papers, they
can spend more time teaching and supporting students.
Wow, even teachers are into using AI now? Jokes
aside, this will help teachers get more time
so students get more personal attention. But
there's always two sides of a coin. Some teachers
worry that AI feedback isn't always accurate.
Imagine if an AI says your essay is average when
you've actually written something creative that
doesn't fit the AI's criteria. Exactly. It's
efficient. But is it fair? That's one risk. If
students rely too much on AI feedback, they might
stop thinking critically about their own work.
As a student, I can see both sides. If AI gives
fast feedback, that helps me improve quickly.
But I'd still want my teacher to look at my work
and see my unique ideas, not just what an algorithm
says. Yeah, same here. Also, if AI does too much
of a teacher's job, I think students might start
depending on it too much. Like, why even put
effort into writing when AI can correct everything?
Those are good points. So in the UK, the benefit
is efficiency, saving time for teachers. But
the risk is losing that human touch and feedback,
which is really important for learning. Now let's
take a look at South Korea. They've taken AI
in education to the next level. Some student
schools already have AI tutors that adapt lessons
to each student's pace. So if you're struggling
with math, the AI slows down and gives you more
practice. If you're excelling, it pushes you
ahead faster. That sounds pretty cool. Personalized
learning at scale is something teachers wish
they could do. But with 30 students in the classroom,
it's nearly impossible. Honestly, I like that.
Sometimes I feel like classes move too fast or
too slow for me. If AI could address to my level,
that would make learning less stressful. Yeah,
but here's the downside. If you're always learning
alone with AI, what happens to teamwork? Part
of school is learning how to collaborate, discuss,
and solve problems with other people. Exactly,
and that's one of the criticisms. In South Korea,
people are worried that AI tutors can make education
too individualized. Students get great results
on tests, but maybe lose out on building social
and communication skills. And another risk may
be over -reliance. If you always have an AI tutor
giving you the answers or guiding you, do you
still learn how to figure things out on your
own? So the benefit here is personalization.
Students can learn at their own pace. But the
risk is that they might miss the human side of
education, teamwork, discussion, and critical
thinking. So two case studies, the UK focuses
on saving teacher time and South Korea focuses
on personalizing learning. Both show the potential
of AI, but also the risk if we don't use it wisely.
I think the key is balance. AI should help teachers
and students, but not replace the human part
of learning. Yeah, like AI can give feedback
or extra practice, but we still need real conversations,
group projects, and teachers who understand us.
That's a lovely lesson. AI is a tool, not a teacher.
If we use it right, it can make education better.
If we use it wrong, it might make us reliant
on machines instead of developing our own skills.
And that could connect back to our theme, how
to not become dumber while AI becomes smarter.
We need to use AI to think more, not less. Exactly.
And that's the challenge for all of us, students,
teachers, and even policymakers. Use AI to boost
learning, but never let it replace the creativity,
critical thinking, and teamwork that make us
truly human. To end this first segment, I have
a question to ask you all. Here it is. If AI
can do so much of the work, how do you make sure
it doesn't do all the work? Yep. Thank you, Mr.
Jason, for the question. I think AI can do a
lot, but it shouldn't do everything, of course.
I see it as a co -pilot. It handles the heavy
lifting while we steer the direction. AI can
generate, but only humans bring purpose, creativity,
and authenticity. The balance comes from letting
AI support us without replacing what makes our
work uniquely us, humans. We can always tweak
the prompts in order to adjust how the AI responds
and make it sure that our work is still personalized
and still something that we do as a person rather
than just letting the AI think for us. If AI
can do so much of the work, how do you make sure
it doesn't do all the work? If AI did all the
work, then what would be the point of me being
here? I would just be the person in the middle,
just a person who would click and paste. I still
have to add my thoughts and mistakes and style
it so it sounds like me. Otherwise, it's just
AI going to school instead of me, which is pretty
weird. I think that even if AI can do a lot of
the work and can help automate a process, it's
still very prone to making mistakes right now,
such as hallucinating or maybe using an inefficient
way to solve a problem. Thus, AI will still require
humans to guide it or brush it up on what it
makes. This is why I think AI is best used as
a tool to help humans instead of just taking
over their jobs or functions. Wow. Thank you
so much, guys. That was a great discussion on
AI and just the idea of how we're seeing it being
used in other places. We can learn from their
mistakes. We can also learn from their best practices.
So some good stuff to think about. We'll be right
back after this short PSA. A huge thank you to
everyone who joined us at the Amplify Your Voice
Students Incorporated event to promote our Season
4 kickoff. It was more than just an event. It
was a space where ideas, creativity, and connections
came alive. We saw firsthand how marketing isn't
just about promotion, but about community building
and telling stories that matter. The energy,
the conversations, and the takeaways from the
event will definitely carry forward into the
projects we create and the voices we amplify
on this podcast. Here's to keeping that momentum
going, and please tune in to listen to future
episodes. And we are back with our second part,
and we still have James, Esther, Vijay, and Highlight
in the studio to continue this conversation.
Let's dive deeper. We just briefly discussed
two case studies from the UK and South Korea,
but now let's step back and consider the bigger
picture. How is AI changing learning for students
and teachers? So my first question is this. In
what ways can AI improve learning outcomes for
students? Meaning the students have to prove
they're actually learning. One way it can aid
us is through creativity and brainstorming, or
simply creating ideas. AI can give thoughts and
perspectives that students might never think
of on their own. It's just like having a second
point of view with you. Starting with your own
ideas, AI can shift it into something new. That
back and forth can improve learning outcomes.
Exactly. Instead of replacing your work, AI can
stretch your thinking and challenge you to consider
different approaches. I like that, but I think
the key is balance. If you rely only on AI, you
might lose your own voice. But if you use it
as a brainstorming partner, it can push you to
explore more creative answers. Those are great
points. So if AI can help improve outcomes, then
my second question is this. How might AI affect
the role of teachers in the classroom? Vijay,
what do you think? AI definitely affects teachers'
roles. On one hand, it can make things more convenient.
Students can use it to answer simple questions,
and teachers can save time on repetitive tasks.
But there is also a downside. If students copy
directly from AI, we can risk plagiarism, or
worse, spreading misinformation if nobody fact
-checks the responses. Exactly. The amount of
times AI can be wrong is insane. Though, teachers
might become less relevant in delivering answers
and more about guiding students fact -checking
and helping us think critically. That leads us
to something tricky. What happens when AI is
used not just to help, but to watch? So my third
question is this. What are the risks of using
AI to monitor student behavior or performance?
Hilate, what do you think? Yes, so I think honestly
I'd feel uncomfortable if AI were tracking everything
I did. It could misread situations or make students
feel like they're constantly being watched. Yeah,
and it could create pressure. Like, we're just
data points instead of real people. Plus, if
the AI makes mistakes, it could unfairly label
students. Monitoring tools might help spot trends,
but they can't replace teachers knowing their
students as people. So that raises a bigger question.
Should there be limits on AI in education? This
is my fourth question, actually. Should there
be limits on how AI is used in education? Why
or why not? James, what do you think? Of course,
if there aren't any limits, students could just
copy AI answers and skip the critical thinking.
Or any thinking at all, actually. We don't want
AI to take away skills like problem solving,
communication, or creativity. Those things our
students need in life, not just in school. Exactly,
Esther. AI should give ideas, but humans still
need to do the hard thinking. Otherwise, we're
just outsourcing our own brains. Yeah, I totally
agree with that. So if there are limits, how
do we strike the right balance? This brings me
to my fifth question, which is, how can education
balance the benefits of AI with the need for
human interaction? Vijay, you have this one.
I think teachers could use AI for practice drills
or creating lesson plans, but they should still
lead the lessons themselves. And they should
focus on personal feedback and relationships,
the things that AI cannot do. That way, AI handles
the routine stuff, while teachers handle the
real human connection. It's not AI versus teachers,
it's teachers using AI as tools, while being
the heart of the classroom. And this ties into
our last question, which is, how does AI impact
student motivation and engagement? You each can
take a turn on this one. James, go ahead and
go first. Well, it can help. AI can simplify
complex topics and make learning more accessible
to the user. And with personalized learning plans,
students can move at their own pace, which keeps
them more engaged. But again, it really depends
on how we use it. If it just gives you answers,
that's not motivating. But if it challenges you,
then it's exciting. Yeah, AI should be like a
coach, supporting you but not playing the game
for you. Well, those are great insights, everyone.
Thank you so much. It sounds like AI can make
learning more creative, convenient, and personalized,
but it has to be used carefully. Teachers are
essential because education is more than information.
It's about connection. guidance and growth. It's
about the relationships that students have with
their teachers, mentors, and coaches. It's not
just about theory or information or a test score.
AI, no matter how smart, will never be able to
have a real human -to -human connection like
human teachers have with human students. We've
talked about how AI can boost learning, but it's
up to us to use it wisely. AI is getting smarter,
but that doesn't mean we should get dumber. By
using AI as a tool, not a crutch, we can stay
sharp, think critically, and keep learning how
to stay human. As we end this episode, let's
not replace the human side of education, but
let's also embrace the wonderful new tools and
advancements that artificial intelligence is
giving us. And as always, this podcast will not
be possible without the hard work and support
of our international student production team.
All music and sound effects are courtesy of Pixabay
.com, a vibrant community of creatives sharing
copyright -free images, videos, and music. And
we're signing off. Until next time, we're Students
Incorporated, because your voice matters.