Microsoft says AI and VR could help future students focus better
Tech giant Microsoft has tapped into the education sector and envisions the future of the classroom will be digitally advanced more than ever before. With video conferencing, tablets, computer labs, PowerPoint (and other office suites), mobile applications and more already embedded in the modern school system, Microsoft sees two other already known technologies that can make strides in the classroom – Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR). Daphne Leprince-Ringuet shares an article on ZDNet about Microsoft’s intentions of the future of education. Dubbing the future as “hybrid intelligence”, this combination of human and machine intelligence is meant to expand human intellect, rather than replace it. According to the article, Microsoft claims this shift will happen via “meaningful” interactions between students and technology, which will “help students do an even better job at what they already do best.” Daniel McDuff, a researcher at Microsoft, says that “the collaboration between humans and AI could give us almost superhuman powers to learn.” Additionally, using AI will help us understand how students works collaboratively, thus in certain situations highlight the need for a group leader in a class group, or spot unconscious biases happening when pupils interact. Leprince-Ringuet says that hybrid intelligence technologies have myriad other applications in the classroom, some of them already grounded in 2020 technology. They include AR and VR tools, for example, which lets students, in McDuff’s words, “use tech in the moment rather than be glued to a screen.” VR is already helpful in other interests such as video games, movies, music, and other popular meda and tech. If there is a future for the education sector in the digital roadmap, Microsoft believes hybrid intelligence is the path they should take.
