Auto-completing sentences in documents and emails. Apps that predict your next grocery order. Writing code with just a prompt. Virtual agents that handle routine tasks while you focus on more strategic work.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has come a long way since the days of Clippy, the cheery little Microsoft help bot. And with the modern explosion of AI technology and its use cases, the definition of AI has become murky.
According to Gene Chao, Founder & Chief Executive of GenRe Ventures, we can break AI into four distinct categories:
- Systems of engagement (e.g., chatbots and automated customer service)
- Traditional machine learning (e.g., ICR/OCR technologies)
- Reasoning applications (e.g., large language models like ChatGPT)
- “Doing” applications (e.g., robotic process automation)
The fuel for all four of these AI areas is content and data.
This evolution — from deterministic to probabilistic — has stirred deep conversations in education and government. They are trying to understand three main issues: workforce efficiency, data security, and ethics related to this technology.
AI is Moving Fast
We measure the speed at which AI-enabled technologies evolve and grow in days and months, not years. As many secondary and higher education institutions have experienced, the introduction of ChatGPT immediately impacted institutional control of student work and learning. Access to a powerful AI tool within a learning environment raised ethical alarms over plagiarism and copyright infringement risks.
New York City Public Schools effectively banned the use of the most popular form of the technology, ChatGPT, out of fear of students cheating. Many colleges, universities, and K-12 districts are reviewing AI tools with caution. AI text classifier products are also available to deter unethical use of ChatGPT and other tools.
Despite these concerns, AI also presents several positive use cases for education and the public sector.
“If you look at the technology and toolsets in the right way, it can augment how you improve student learning and the pace at which you learn,” said Chao.
AI can change how teachers and staff prepare, respond, and succeed in a constantly changing learning environment. For example, admissions offices could more accurately forecast enrollment fluctuations. Or student life staff proactively adapting programming based on known student behaviors. Or generative AI transforming the manual labor of transcript processing.
Concerns Over “Digital DNA” Security
The increase of sharing personal data and the sophisticated ways to use and abuse that data raises security flags. For educational institutions, cybersecurity is already a priority — reinforced at the White House’s Cybersecurity Summit for K-12 Schools. Most are actively taking steps to protect student information.
But a new question emerges: What happens when AI uses student data in unexpected ways?
At Softdocs, we are committed to keeping our customers’ data safe and private. That trust is foundational to our values and the way we operate.
Transforming Work in Education
In addition to augmenting instructional practices, the application of AI technologies holds tremendous promise for staff and administrators.
The boom of content and data has created an ocean of information and insights to power AI tools. Education and government leaders see the potential for creating more intuitive and predictive student services. Imagine using historical data to analyze, anticipate, and recommend information or actions that improve the student experience. Or going beyond OCR to read transcripts with the nuance of a human reviewer.
Many Softdocs clients already run Etrieve reports, giving them visibility into internal process efficiencies, student engagement patterns, and more. AI will take that insight to the next level. Transforming static data into actionable data gives institutions and districts the analytical assistance to drive better outcomes.
“The data tells the story,” claims Softdocs customer Francis Tuttle Technology Center. It has never been more appropriate.
When deployed thoughtfully and responsibly, AI-enabled technologies have the potential to create limitless opportunities in process improvement and organizational success.
What AI means for Education
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