Analysis: Historic education reforms must not be rendered obsolete by AI breakthrough

Education is already being impacted by technology such as ChatGPT

Technological advances can stir a mix of both excitement and fear as people struggle to gauge the ways in which their lives might change.

This has been witnessed in recent months as the world has begun to come to terms with the jaw-dropping power of artificial intelligence (AI).

The human-like conversations that can be had with software, such as ChatGPT, have left many with the impression that we are entering a new era.

Artificial Intelligence in 2023- What is ChatGPT and should we embrace AI technology?(Photo by Andrea Verdelli/Getty Images)

And while the full economic and social implications will not be fully understood for some time, it is already clear that AI is moving the goal posts in a range of ways.

Education is among the areas being impacted, for better and for worse.

AI has been hailed as a potential game-changer for teaching and learning, enabling a more personalised approach to each pupil or student's education, while cutting staff bureaucracy and giving teachers more time to teach.

But there has also been much focus on the more negative consequences, such as the ease with which pupils might be able to cheat.

These concerns have grown since the launch of ChatGPT at the end of last year.

This has coincided with research being led by Professor Louise Hayward, which is expected to lead to an overhaul of the way pupils are assessed in schools in Scotland.

Her interim report signalled she was preparing to recommend a move away from exams, with more focus on coursework.

But thus far there has been little explanation of how that will be possible in an age when a pupil can simply ask an AI app to do their homework for them.

Professor Lindsay Paterson has suggested in The Scotsman today that the Hayward review process should have been delayed months ago when the powers and popularity of ChatGPT began to emerge.

Of course, we will not know the extent to which the review has considered the impact of AI until the final report has been published.

But given the Hayward reforms are being hailed as the most significant in the last 150 years of Scottish education, every effort should surely be made to ensure they are not almost immediately rendered obsolete by a technological advancement we already know about.