The Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tutors in Personalized Learning: Benefits and Challenges

Abstract

Albeit that the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tutors into educational systems has offered educational experiences that provide tailored educational experiences which are adaptive to the needs of individual learner needs, the current state of science has not effectively crafted a model of effective virtual tutor. In this article we explore the ways in which AI tutors can act as a vehicle for engaging students more and producing better learning outcomes, while also dealing with the myriad of others’ educational needs. AI tutors use the power of machine learning algorithms and natural language processing, data analytics, and AI to dynamically personalize content delivery, pacing, and assessment techniques to meet students’ individual learning styles, knowledge gaps, and cognitive abilities. There are 3 key benefits, 24/7 accessibility, scalability with different populations, reduced teacher workload, and real time feedback mechanisms which empower the learner to see where they stand in their continuous learning process. Challenges of implementation of AI tutors are: They have to do with ethical concerns on data privacy, algorithmic bias, over reliance on technology in these measure and how this may be been used to create a different outcome for a more privileged group. However, the absence of human empathy in an AI system may impede the socio-emotional skills, and technical as the poor infrastructure in places where education is not served may aggravate educational disparity. It is argued in this article that AI tutors have a promising potential to democratize education, however, their success for this will depend on the development of robust ethical framework, as well as interdisciplinary collaboration and continuous improvement of AI models. Analyzing empirical studies and contributing expert insights, this work offers actionable learning design recommendations for educational practitioners, policy makers and technologists to create the conditions for the safe use of AI for personalized learning in the service of pedagogical justice and equity.