The university sector in Aotearoa New Zealand is at a tipping point as a result of chronic underfunding, fluctuating enrollment and rising costs as a result of inflation. In response, the federal government two working groups to evaluate the state of the sector and make recommendations for the long run.
At the identical time, universities have gotten increasingly depending on the academic technology (EdTech) industry, which claims to enhance student learning by selling hardware and software – often developed using artificial intelligence (AI).
Most universities already pay for services from EdTech firms reminiscent of Turnitin, Grammarly, CampusTalk and Studiosity, all of which use AI of their products.
However, critics say this trust in EdTech is misplaced and results in what technology author Evgeny Morozoc technological solutionism – “the concept that technology, with the appropriate code, algorithms and robots, can solve all of humanity’s problems.”
Intellectual property and profit
To higher understand how EdTech providers work, consider the plagiarism detection company Turnitinutilized by 20,000 institutions in 185 countries.
Student essays are mental property (IP). According to school policy, students and universities have a joint license for all IP written by students.
But when teachers require students to upload their essays to Turnitin, students must grant the corporate a “non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide and irrevocable license” to make use of their mental property.
Turnitin adds these papers to its massive database, which it uses to construct its plagiarism detection tool. The tool – developed with students' mental property – is then sold back to universities in order that instructors can check students' papers within the name of educational integrity.
After 20 years of growth with this business model, Turnitin purchased in 2019 from Advance Publications for $1.75 billion. On Twitter (now X), university researchers Jesse Stommel asked: “How much of that $1.75 billion do you’re thinking that goes to the scholars who’ve been feeding their database for years? I actually have a reasonably accurate estimate: zero billion.”
By claiming ownership of student mental property, Turnitin also profits from the ideas of Indigenous students. However, this threatens Data sovereignty of indigenous peoples – that data created by or collected about indigenous communities must be managed by those communities.
AI teaching clones
EdTech organizations reminiscent of Prifina, khanmigo And Learned are currently developing recent AI teaching clones. These “AI twins“ are trained using the teachers’ course materials and might interact with the scholars across the clock.
For overworked teachers, an AI clone might sound attractive. Promotional videoA lecturer praises the clone for helping him teach biochemistry to greater than 800 students.
Of course, one other solution to improve teaching in such a big course is to employ more teachers. The Tertiary Education Union will definitely take this point up in its Collective bargaining with universities this yr.
However, it just isn’t surprising that universities are searching for cheaper alternatives, because the sector has long suffered from underfunding by the state.
Here's the catch, though: We don't yet know the complete cost of AI agents in education. While they're currently free or inexpensive, it takes plenty of computing power to construct and use a bespoke AI agent – almost actually more power than teachers and students have available on their PCs.
For this reason, organizations developing AI agents depend on access to high-performance servers provided by firms like Microsoft and Amazon Web Services. However, after sufficient market penetration, these multinational firms desire a return on their investment. Will AI agents still be cheaper than teachers?
Energy-intensive investments
We also don’t know the way much energy it takes to construct and run lots of of AI clones for tens of 1000’s of scholars. But we do know that Microsoft recently has withdrawn his goal to be carbon negative by 2030, as AI increasingly requires “energy-hungry data centers.”
Many New Zealand universities also aim to be carbon neutral by 2030. Do additionally they need to abandon their green commitments? Or can they shift responsibility by outsourcing AI to EdTech firms?
In the past, it has been difficult for educational institutions to interrupt away from EdTech investments. This despite Research shows “85% of EdTech tools are inappropriate or poorly implemented.”
If AI “is driving the world into an energy crisis“Is it definitely worth the financial and ecological effort to develop AI agents for educators?
Product or public good?
Without sufficient government support, EdTech products are attractive to universities. But higher education stakeholders must ask themselves whether EdTech “solutions” really contribute to higher education.
When higher education is viewed primarily as a product in a worldwide market, EdTech tools can provide monetary added value.
However, if a university education is viewed as a public good that contributes to the advance of society, EdTech tools could also be less precious.
Now it’s time for a broader discussion about the fee and value of a university education and the role of EdTech in it.
