AI isn’t disruptive because it will “outsmart” us. It’s disruptive because it dissolves a distinction we thought was solid — the line between human and machine. — Tobias Rees

THE AI moment is here. And we are not quite ready for it. In academia, we are trying to grapple with the fast-paced disruptions it continues to bring forth. On one hand we see a familiar anxiety to ‘catch up’ before others do; to quickly adapt to new technology for greater efficiency and productivity; on the other, we witness a constant concern about losing control; of students, of assessments, of take-home assignments and of our ability to monitor and ‘catch the cheaters’ effectively. And so, we see an ongoing tussle where teachers seek technology to ‘detect AI’, while AI technology races to offer ‘undetectable’ and ‘humanised’ versions. We are in a new era of education. And it is time to pause, reflect and introspect.

A new era brings a new set of questions or takes us back to the old ones. For a long time, our education systems have been ignoring some fundamental questions. The AI moment offers us an opportunity to focus on these questions again: what is our idea of knowledge, what is the purpose of seeking and creating knowledge, what is our idea........

© Dawn