World Artificial Intelligence Conference-ICI Panel║Ni Minjing: Human Beings Come First When We Talk About the Empowerment of Artificial Intelligence Technology in Education

▲ Ni Minjing

Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission

What is artificial intelligence? My understanding, in the simplest terms, artificial intelligence is the intelligence that can replace human labor. The history of the development of technology is a history of the liberating of people’s hands, feet and brain. Thus, I would like to put forward a point of view today: the empowerment of artificial intelligence in education must consider human beings, rather than overlook them; artificial intelligence is not to replace people, but to liberate people, in other words, let people do what they are supposed to do.

In this context, artificial intelligence has been widely used in the management in schools. It can be seen that artificial intelligence has actually been recognized by a large number of children and become a pursuit of the future.

We can promote the application of artificial intelligence in education in five aspects:

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First, seek reform actively and take actions immediately.

Many of the principles that present today are the ones who take active and immediate actions in education reform. In the past decades, a large amount of capital has been invested in informatization, nevertheless, it brought little effects. However, there is never a perfect solution for informatization, on the one hand, we must cherish the capital, and on the other hand, we must take actions actively and immediately. We need to collect data actively, because we have nothing if we don’t start to collect data.

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Second, be in awe of technology.

Technology is a double-edged sword. In the whole process of technology application, people have seen a lot of evil things. If we don’t apply technologies with awe, the consequences in education might be unimaginable.

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Third, artificial intelligence is a science, moreover, it is an art.

Education is too complicated. The complexity of education does not come from the complexity of technology, but from the complexity of human beings. Less is more, which is the artistry of education. Technology is not about making children do more exercises, but about making them different people, having a deeper understanding of the society and lives.

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Forth, the application of artificial intelligence in education is not a technical problem, but a problem of educational concept and organizational reform.

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Fifth, the core of artificial intelligence empowerment in education is the reform of educational content.

A major characteristic of the artificial intelligence era is that it is no longer the lack of material, but the lack of time; the key is no longer material manufacturing, but spiritual manufacturing. What is most needed in the era of artificial intelligence is to get children out of the instillation of rote learning, and what children need most is to improve their sense of responsibility, speculative ability, practical ability and cooperative communication ability through artificial intelligence.

Focusing on the three abilities of creating new value, coordinating contradictions and dilemmas and taking responsibilities are the challenges that education must accept now, and it is also the direction of artificial intelligence empowerment in education. Thank you!