Intelligent by design

It's no secret that we are living in a time of fast-paced change, but what is increasingly clear is that our current idea of technology's capabilities is only the tip of the iceberg, says Holly Kirkwood

- Holly Kirkwood

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) first hit the mainstream headlines in 2017 when DeepMind’s AlphaGo beat the world’s top Go player (Go is an abstract strategy board game), a feat thought to be decades away because of the complexity of the game. This breakthrough was originally hailed as a triumph, but, today, many of the founders of AI are warning against the speed at which things are moving. As CEO of DeepMind technologies, Demis Hassabis, told Time: ‘When it comes to very powerful technologies—and obviously AI is going to be one of the most powerful ever—we need to be careful.’

For the education sector, the development of AI tools is a hugely hot topic. Most independent schools are already using AI in the classroom, but, as its prevalence increases, many parents are asking whether this is the right direction of travel. Their concerns are shared by many educators—in May, more than 60 senior education figures signed a letter to The Times written by the head of Epsom College, Sir Anthony Seldon, suggesting that the Government was woefully underprepared to navigate the issue of AI in schools. Sir Anthony wrote that AI could bring the biggest benefit since the printing press, but that it is ‘moving far too quickly for the Government or parliament alone to provide the real-time advice schools need’.