The Top Ways to Use AI in Education

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming one of the disruptive factors in the educational business. AI in the education market was predicted to rise to $10.38 billion by 2026 (by 45.12% annually). AI EdTech startups are attracting millions of dollars in funding and millions of users.

AI use cases in learning demonstrate such kinds of applications as AI in training, learning and development, AI in higher education and artificial intelligence in K-12 education.

So, where and how can learning enterprises, universities and schools use AI in the education domain?

1. AI helps predict and prevent the loss of key employees

For many organizations, losing capable people would increase the company’s expenses. Colleges, universities and schools are no different and face the same costs and challenges. According to studies, replacing high-qualified employees can cost up to 150% of their annual salary and social package. (Read also: 5 Tips for Secure and Efficient Employee Off-boarding.)

With AI-powered talent management software, learning institutions can forecast the resignation of key professionals before it would impact the business. Leveraging AI, IBM managed to determine with 95% accuracy which people were going to leave their job. This measure allowed the company to reduce retention costs nearly by $300 million.

2. AI helps assess skill sets and find the right talents

An AI-powered talent management system is a handy tool for a school’s HR department to assess an employee’s skills and put them in the right position.

This approach is faster and more objective than managers’ surveys. Candidates need to describe their competencies only once. Then AI parses the data, completing for HR a comprehensive list of employees, their level of skills, and the most appropriate positions for each of them.

Another option is for prospective employee to upload their resume or CV and an artificial intelligence tool analyzes their skill set to suggest a relevant job according to the experience and particular interests.

Start with projecting a competency matrix and perform an employee current skill set analysis. But how to understand which skills to develop in the workforce? For that, compare the supply of each skill with the business’s strategic goals.

3. Artificial intelligence advances the upskilling and reskilling processes

Surveys show that 9 out of 10 executives recognize or expect staff skill gaps over the next 5 years. Less than 50% of them know how to address this issue.

The most common tactic for filling skill gaps is “upskilling” and “reskilling” for internal mobility (the stated opinion of 56% of respondents), and, obviously, external hiring.

However, nearly 70% of HR professionals are still not satisfied with how their companies meet their internal mobility purposes.

Some employees don’t see how they can move forward in their company. So, the best way to get a promotion seems to be a change of the current employer.

The AI algorithms implemented in a learning experience platform (LXP) or learning management system (LMS) can help such individuals. They analyze skill sets, match them to the requirements of the open positions, highlight the gaps, and suggest training to boost the chances to continue the career path at their learning institution. (Read also: Virtual Training: Paving Advanced Education’s Future.)

4. AI-enabled engagement tool for student enrollment

Over 85% of college presidents confirmed in a McKinsey and Company report that enrollment numbers are one of their key issues. The COVID-19 pandemic has been an undeniable factor. Almost 50% of students report that they don’t enroll due to emotional impact. 30% say they can’t afford it.

Implementing AI in the enrollment process leads to the number of students rising and the university expenses going down.

The excellent use case was demonstrated at Georgia State University. Their AI-driven chatbot sends personalized messages and reminders about enrollment rules, deadlines, and documents to prospective students . It can also inform them about financial options like grants, loans and scholarships.

Students communicate with the AI chatbot using text messaging applications on their smartphones. And get a response immediately. If the chatbot doesn’t know an answer, the question goes to a human. The AI-powered chatbot analyzes human replies, collects them, and adds them to the database, learning with each interaction. As a result, this technology can manage an increasing number of requests without human input.

5. AI-driven software assists in exam proctoring

AI software can be used during an exam to help detect suspicious behavior and alert a proctor, especially during online and remote learning when a proctor isn’t able to control students in person.

The program is keeping track of each exam-taker’s web camera, microphone, web browser and performs a keystroke analysis. For example, a facial recognition system can detect if a student is staying in their place, communicating with another person or searching for the information in workbooks during the test.

Universities and colleges prefer the hybrid model that combines the real live remote human proctor with AI proctoring tools to improve the assessment process and prevent cheating.

The AI applications analyze the activity, notice unusual actions, check test results, and send reports. A proctor sees all data in real-time, including issues detected by AI, and can react immediately to correct a student’s behavior according to the situation.

6. AI-based technology for secure campuses

Phishing attacks and ransomware are key security issues on campus. Why? Because universities, colleges and schools store a lot of sensitive personal information and data that is intellectual property.

The AI-based tools can assess what normal actions look like and identify suspicious traffic at a much larger scale than a human could. This technology is able to create patterns by detecting and analyzing the attributes of abnormal activity. From time to time, it monitors different situations, learns, builds algorithms and provides recommendations to the IT department.

For example, say a faculty member arrives at work usually at 8:00 a.m., goes home at 8:00 p.m., and sometimes logs in remotely at 10:00 p.m. You don’t expect that this person would connect to the system at 4:00 a.m. from India. AI can detect such deviations and block access.

Another case would be the prevention of an active shooter on campus. An HD camera, featuring deep learning technology and built-in AI, is able to alert the security staff about suspicious strangers. AI-powered video surveillance can recognize faces, car plates and detect guns. (Read also: Advanced Analytics: Police Tools Combating Crime.)

This means the security team isn’t required to monitor the perimeter constantly. The AI-based system analyzes the data itself, compares recognized events with the risk matrix and directs the staff to react according to the findings.

Conclusion

AI in education is a trend with rising popularity. AI EdTech startups are attractive for investors and have great potential for their owners because AI-based technologies help successfully address the wide range of customers’ pain points. Artificial Intelligence provides benefits for all market segments (business, universities, colleges, and schools).