The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has issued a compelling call to governments, emphasizing the necessity of regulating the utilization of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in educational and research settings. GenAI tools, including ChatGPT, have advanced rapidly and are now widely employed worldwide, encompassing numerous students.
The extensive capabilities of GenAI for information processing and knowledge creation have significant implications for education, as they replicate the fundamental aspects of human learning. Nevertheless, few countries have established policies to ensure the safe and ethical application of AI tools.
UNESCO has released comprehensive global guidance concerning Generative AI in Education and Research, aimed at addressing the disruptions engendered by GenAI technologies. This guidance proposes immediate actions to uphold a human-centric approach to adopting new technology, encompassing safeguarding data privacy and potentially imposing an age limit of 13 for classroom use. It also outlines requirements for GenAI providers to ensure ethical and effective usage.
Additionally, the guidance underscores the importance of educational institutions assessing the ethical and pedagogical appropriateness of GenAI systems for educational purposes, emphasizing their role in extending and enhancing human intellectual abilities and social skills.
GenAI, or Generative Artificial Intelligence, is a technology capable of automatically generating content in response to natural language prompts. It can create various forms of content, including text, images, videos, music, and software code, by analyzing patterns in data it has ingested.
The specific technologies behind GenAI belong to the Machine Learning family, using algorithms to improve their performance from data. Text generative AI typically employs Large Language Models (LLMs), like Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT).
Image and music generative AI often use Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), which generate content by creating a “generator” and a “discriminator” to create increasingly realistic images or music.
GenAI has numerous potential applications, ranging from automating information processing to changing how we perceive human intelligence and learning.
However, GenAI also raises controversies, including concerns about content usage without consent, offensive or biased materials polluting the internet, the lack of understanding of the real world, the generation of deepfakes, ethical concerns related to education, and potential biases and discrimination in outputs.
As GenAI continues to evolve, it’s imperative to address these issues and establish regulations to ensure responsible and ethical usage.
Post Your Comments