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Editor's note: This is part of a series looking at the rise of artificial intelligence technology tools such as ChatGPT, the opportunities and risks they pose and what impacts they could have on various aspects of our daily lives.
SALT LAKE CITY — Two of the biggest names in the education technology realm are partnering to bring generative artificial intelligence (think ChatGPT) to students and educators everywhere.
Utah-based Instructure and Khan Academy last week announced a partnership that brings together Instructure's market-leading learning management system, Canvas, the anchor of the Instructure Learning Platform, and Khan Academy's AI-powered student tutor and teaching assistant, Khanmigo.
"One of the initial responses to generative AI, ChatGPT, was that it was a cheating tool and it can definitely be used for that," said Ryan Lufkin, Instructure's vice president of global strategy. "But it can actually be used in a lot more ways. To save educators time, to help students stay on track and to personalize that learning experience."
Through the partnership, Khan Academy's Khanmigo chatbot will be integrated directly within Instructure's Canvas learning management system, giving both educators and students access to novel technology.
For teachers, the technology will support human-driven, technology-enhanced essay feedback and grading, lesson planning, tutoring and rubric creation, among other things.
"Things that save educators time. There are time-consuming aspects that, you know, our overworked teachers already have enough to do. This really can streamline some of those tasks," Lufkin said, adding that teachers will have oversight over the AI.
For students, the technology will serve as an easily accessible tutor.
"If you can't engage with your educator immediately, if you want to go down into more detail around, say, a book you read, you can ask it about the characters within the book," Lufkin said. "It can even answer questions as the characters of that book. You can ask Holden Caulfield from '(The) Catcher in the Rye' why he's so angry. Things like that."
Lufkin said that the technology won't replace the educator's "magic of the classroom" but that it will help them engage with students in a deeper manner.
Generative AI ... has the potential to create biased results and that sort of thing. So those are areas that we're thinking about closely and carefully and that's why we're taking a more measured approach to rolling it out rather than just like, 'Hey, let's throw it out there.'
– Brian Watkins, Instructure's director of corporate communications
While Instructure and Khan Academy are eager to get their AI tools at the fingertips of more teachers and students across the world, they're implementing a careful, measured rollout with both K-12 and higher education institutions to assess the technology.
"We have an intentional approach. We have a focus on doing it safely," said Brian Watkins, Instructure's director of corporate communications. "There's one aspect I think that's important to recognize is, you know, a focus on making sure it's equitable ... that there are no inherent biases. "Generative AI ... has the potential to create biased results and that sort of thing. So those are areas that we're thinking about closely and carefully and that's why we're taking a more measured approach to rolling it out rather than just like, 'Hey, let's throw it out there.'"
In the same vein, Instructure's Learn Platform independent research team is teaming with Khan Academy's educational research team to jointly design research for early adopters of the technology to measure the impact of the tools on student outcomes — delivering insight into the efficacy of the tools and the utilization of AI to assist teachers and students in achieving learning outcomes.
"Every educator we talk to is seeking ways to address students using ChatGPT to write school essays and do homework," Sal Khan, founder and CEO of Khan Academy, said in a statement. "How can classrooms use AI tools, while ensuring students develop critical thinking skills? We're teaming up with Instructure to solve this. We're using AI to show teachers not just the final essay, but how the student got there. So students will be supported in developing critical writing and thinking skills, while getting the benefit of AI designed for education. Khanmigo can also help with rubric creation and grading, saving teachers time. Students won't get answers, but they will get appropriate levels of support."
