I hope to trace out a national strategy for AI in education

 ■ I hope to trace out a national strategy for AI in education

The Learning for Tomorrow association held an open working group on AI in Education. The meeting began with general agreement that the world does not yet have anyone who has a birds-eye grasp of AI in education. There was discussion of examples, such as the development of a joint curriculum by Recruit Holdings, Tokyo University, and Tokyo Gakugei University as well as the use of IBM’s Watson Chatbot in classes.

One thing that surprised me was discussion of the fact that China’s State Council has decided that the use of AI in education is a national strategic priority. The Japanese Government’s intellectual property plan promotes the use of AI and harnessing information in education, but this is entirely different from China. Debate on AI in education in Japan is paltry. There is a huge gap in awareness between Japan and China, the latter of which sees this as a national strategic priority.

One opinion raised was that AI will not only change schools, but it will change learning itself, including in the home and the community. This is what the Learning for Tomorrow association is aiming for. I hope to sketch out this vision for the near future. However, some feel that we will be unable to use the information that is required for the foundations of the educational system. While demonstration of blockchain technology is progressing, collecting information remains difficult. This is the first problem to tackle.

Other opinions were

● It is easy to imagine how VR/AR can be used, but there are questions about the need for robots in the classroom.

● It is OK as an interface.

● Japan, which is at the apex of world robotics, should lead the way as a model case. 

● AIBO is a robot, or a buddy, that doesn’t speak. There are robots that stay by one’s side.

● The use of AI and robots in education is already progressing.

● There is no proof that robots should be anthropomorphic. We should collaborate with academia to come to a conclusion on this  point.

There was also debate on the meaning of introducing AI. Comments aired include:

● AI strives for uniform answers, but ensuring human diversity is important. AI should support society and help children become who they wish to become.

● We need to progress beyond efficiency.

● AI is more suited to music, art, domestic science, physical education and after-school club activities than to Japanese language, mathematics, social science and science. 

Japan, which is behind in harnessing information in education, has finally started work on this area now that the Diet has passed a system for digital textbooks. However, the world is far ahead of us. My desire is to improve debate and have these matters seen as part of a national strategy. I hope to sketch out an image of the future that can be put to the public, conduct concrete demonstration tests using data and put things into practice.