Article: Ethics and use of AI in education
Saara Karppinen
“Ethical AI” is used to indicate the development, deployment and use of AI that ensures compliance with ethical norms, ethical principles and related core values.’ 11 (‘Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Artificial Intelligence and Data in Teaching and Learning for Educators | European Education Area’, n.d.)
A step to encouraging critical thinking of the ethics in AI is addressing the common misconceptions that could be held by teachers. As new technologies emerge, and the pressure to adopt them increases, many teachers may experience ‘technostress’ (Brennan 2021)which can result in a hesitation to adapt their practices. This is linked to the belief that is ‘too complicated’ to understand (‘Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Artificial Intelligence and Data in Teaching and Learning for Educators | European Education Area’, n.d.) and that it will be impossible to navigate the changing landscape in an ethical way. By facilitating critical reflection, educators can continue to navigate the use of emerging technologies.
Some of the clearer ethical dilemmas are in the practical application of it’s use, such as learner autonomy and using learner data, to the less visible concerns, such as bias that is inbuilt in the LLM impacting the results it generates. (Nguyen et al., n.d.)The reality is that this emergent technology is being used, if not actively by educators, learners will be exploring its capabilities. Avoiding the conversation of the wide range of ethical considerations will not avoid the ethical challenges, rather, perpetuate them. There is also a need to differentiate ‘doing ethical things and doing things ethically’ (Holmes et al. 2021) in order to avoid unintended consequences.
There is also the challenge that different uses of LLM will create different ethical scenarios, and there is no definitive answer as to what constitutes best practices, as these processes may be unexplored. (‘Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Artificial Intelligence and Data in Teaching and Learning for Educators | European Education Area’, n.d.)
How then, can educators confidently and ethically utilize LLM technology? By fostering a reflection on their guiding principles as educators, continuing to build their awareness on the technological developments, and accept flexibility in it’s application.
‘a sense of flexibility that acknowledges human values within the developing momentum of AI is vital to fostering sustainable innovations.’ (Nguyen et al., n.d.) PG 4222
If educators reflect on the application of AI, and their core values, the usage can be tailored to meet this expectation. For example, an ethical dilemma, or misconception, is that use of LLM will further divide the neuro-typical and neuro-diverse students (‘Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Artificial Intelligence and Data in Teaching and Learning for Educators | European Education Area’, n.d.)as LLM’s are largely built on neurotypical responses. However, if an educator reflects on their students with educational needs, they could use some of these functions to provide better access to learning content, therefore adapting their usage to reflect their intent in inclusive practices. Akgun and Greenhouse (2022) have narrowed done some of the key pedagogical concerns to four separate topics- Privacy, bias, surveillance and autonomy, further visualised in the diagram below. Although this is not an exhaustive list, starting the conversation with educators on these core areas can create a foundation for further critical thinking.
Figure 1: Potential ethical and societal risks of AI applications in education (Akgun and Greenhouse 2022)
By facilitating conversations about core teaching values, and using these to navigate discussion on the ethical dilemmas, teachers can develop their confidence in using emerging technologies.
Citations:
Akgun, Selin, and Susan Greenhouse. 2022. ‘Artificial Intelligence in Education: Addressing Ethical Challenges in K-12 Settings’. Springer Nature Switzerland, July.
Brennan, Fintan. 2021. ‘Technostress and Leadership: A Case Study in Higher Education during the COVID-19 Crisis’. fi=Ylempi AMK-opinnäytetyö|sv=Högre YH-examensarbete|en=Master’s thesis|. 2021. http://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/380031.
‘Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Artificial Intelligence and Data in Teaching and Learning for Educators | European Education Area’. n.d. Accessed 16 May 2024. https://education.ec.europa.eu/node/2285.
Holmes, Wayne, Kaska Porayska-Pomsta, Ken Holstein, Emma Sutherland, Toby Baker, Simon Buckingham Shum, Olga Santos, et al. 2021. ‘Ethics of AI in Education: Towards a Community-Wide Framework’. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, January, 32: 504-526.
Nguyen, Andy, Ha Ngan Ngo, Yvonne Hong, Belle Dang, and Bich-Phuong Thi Nguyen. n.d. ‘Ethical Principles for Artificial Intelligence in Education’. Education and In.