[Paper Review] Equity and Artificial Intelligence in Education: Will "AIEd" Amplify or Alleviate Inequities in Education?

Kenneth Holstein, Shayan Doroudi|arXiv (Cornell University)|Apr 27, 2021

Online Learning and Analytics46 references29 citations

TL;DR

The paper analyzes how AIEd could either amplify or alleviate educational inequities by presenting four analytical lenses and outlining equitable futures and ongoing design debates.

ABSTRACT

The development of educational AI (AIEd) systems has often been motivated by their potential to promote educational equity and reduce achievement gaps across different groups of learners -- for example, by scaling up the benefits of one-on-one human tutoring to a broader audience, or by filling gaps in existing educational services. Given these noble intentions, why might AIEd systems have inequitable impacts in practice? In this chapter, we discuss four lenses that can be used to examine how and why AIEd systems risk amplifying existing inequities. Building from these lenses, we then outline possible paths towards more equitable futures for AIEd, while highlighting debates surrounding each proposal. In doing so, we hope to provoke new conversations around the design of equitable AIEd, and to push ongoing conversations in the field forward.

Motivation & Objective

• Motivate the study by questioning whether AIEd will reduce or exacerbate educational inequities.
• Identify analytical lenses to examine AIEd's impact on equity.
• Outline potential paths toward more equitable AIEd design and deployment.
• Highlight debates surrounding proposals for achieving equity in AIEd.

Proposed method

• Present four analytical lenses to evaluate how AIEd can affect inequities.
• Synthesize arguments and debates around equitable AIEd design and deployment.
• Outline possible futures and design considerations for reducing inequities in AIEd.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How might AIEd systems amplify existing educational inequities across learner groups?
• RQ2 What design and policy paths could lead to more equitable AIEd outcomes?
• RQ3 What debates surround the proposals for achieving equity in AIEd, and how might they be navigated in practice?

Key findings

• Identifies four analytic lenses to examine equity-related risks and opportunities in AIEd.
• Outlines possible pathways toward more equitable futures in AIEd and discusses central debates around these proposals.
• Draws attention to design, policy, and ethical considerations that influence AIEd's impact on equity.