Using Artificial Intelligence in Education: Discourses and Implications for Equity and Inclusion

• In Event: Student agency and adaptation: artificial intelligence, social media, and diverse learning spaces

Proposal

In 2019, UNESCO published the Beijing Consensus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Education. Among its recommendations, the Beijing Consensus called for “promoting equitable and inclusive use of AI irrespective of disability, social or economic status, ethnic or cultural background or geographical location, with a strong emphasis on gender equality.” It is worth noting that AI existed since the 1960s. While “AI-powered technologies” have been present in everyday lives, the release of ChatGPT in November 2022 triggered high attention by educational institutions worldwide, especially in post-secondary education (Bond et al., 2024; McDonald et al., 2024, U.S. Department of Education, 2023, Yusuf et al., 2024). As Bond et al. (2024) put it, AI “has arguably only now transitioned from work in labs to active practice in classrooms and broken through the veil of public discourse” (p. 2). Different international organizations and national governments recognized the promise of AI in enhancing and transforming education and improving teaching and learning practice. Several reports and guidelines were released in promotion of the use of AI in educational policies and practices (OECD-Education International, 2023; UNESCO, 2021; U.S. Department of Education, 2023). New discourse emerged in educational research addressing human- machine interaction, “human-centered AI”, autonomy, agency and integrity in educational assessment and in knowledge production, and possible alternate realities for teaching and learning (Bond et al., 2024; Gattupalli & Maloy, 2024; Bulathwela et al., 2024). Yet, little was revealed on the implications of using AI in education for equity and inclusion. Bulathwela et al. (2024) warned that “Millions of students are starting to benefit from the use of these technologies, but millions more around the world are not, due to the digital divide and deep pre-existing social and educational inequalities” (p. 1). Theoretically grounded on education for social justice, this research seeks to analyze international and scholarly discourses on the use of AI in education with special attention given to its promises and perils for equity and inclusion. In this research, I address the following questions: a) How equity and inclusion were considered in the guidelines for using AI in education issued by UNESCO, OECD, and the US Department of Education? b) What were the identified promises and perils of using AI in education for equity and inclusion in scholarly research? And c) what were the recommended policies and practices when using AI in education for promoting equity and inclusion? This is a conceptual study that depends on a “semi-systemic literature review” (Cronin et al., 2008) of related scholarly research published during the past five years and of publicly available documents and resources issued by UNESCO, OECD, and the US Department of Education on AI and education. This research contributes to the global and scholarly discourses on techno-transformation in education by emphasizing recommended policies and practices for promoting equity and inclusion.

Author

• Nagwa Megahed, Ain Shams University & Yorkville University