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The role of AI in
education and the changing U.S. workforce
Elizabeth Mann Levesque
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Editor's Note: This report is part of "A Blueprint for the Future of
AI," a series from the Brookings Institution that analyzes the new
challenges and potential policy solutions introduced by artificial
intelligence and other emerging technologies.
The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies
(ET) is poised to reshape the workforce.[1] While the exact impact of
AI and ET is unclear, experts expect that many jobs currently performed
by humans will be performed by robots in the near future, and at the
same time, new jobs will be created as technology advances. These
impending changes have important implications for the field of
education. Schools must prepare students to remain competitive in the
labor market, and postsecondary institutions must provide students and
displaced workers with relevant education and retraining opportunities.
Innovations in technology will also create new tools to support
educators, students, and others seeking retraining and employment.
Consequently, there is a multitude of policy-relevant questions that we
may consider with respect to how AI and ET will impact education.
Rather than focus on just one of these many questions, this paper
provides an overview of some of the most salient issues we should
consider with respect to what technological advances in AI and ET mean
for education. Specifically, this paper discusses several types of
challenges, opportunities, and risks that AI and ET pose to the field
of education. This paper then concludes with several recommendations
for adapting education in anticipation of the changes associated with
advances in AI and ET.
CENTRAL CHALLENGES FACING EDUCATION
The types of jobs that are at the least risk of being replaced by
automation involve problem solving, teamwork, critical thinking,
communication, and creativity.[2] The education profession is unlikely
to see a dramatic drop in demand for employees given the nature of work
in this field. Rather, preparing students for the changing labor market
will likely be a central challenge for schools and educators.
Policymakers and practitioners must adapt K-12 education to help
students develop the skills that are likely to remain in demand
(sometimes referred to as “21st century skills”). K-12 education should
thus prioritize teaching critical thinking, problem solving, and
teamwork across subject areas. Teaching students to become analytical
thinkers, problem solvers, and good team members will allow them to
remain competitive in the job market even as the nature of work
changes. Equally important, these skills form a strong foundation for
independent thinking that will serve students well no matter what
career(s) they pursue throughout their lives.
K-12 education should
prioritize teaching critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork
across subject areas. Teaching students to become analytical thinkers,
problem solvers, and good team members will allow them to remain
competitive in the job market even as the nature of work changes.
In addition, an increasing demand for technologically skilled workers
likely means that proficiency in education in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects can position students to
be competitive in the workforce. Education in STEM subjects should
certainly be a priority, particularly given low levels of proficiency
nationwide and large achievement gaps. However, given the increasing
importance of developing critical thinking skills that span multiple
subject areas, providing high-quality instruction in the STEM fields is
only part of the solution to preparing students for the changing
workforce.
Further, providing Americans with opportunities for lifelong learning
will be central to helping displaced workers find new career pathways.
Darrell West explains this shifting employment terrain: “In the
contemporary world, people can expect to switch jobs, see whole sectors
disrupted, and need to develop additional skills as a result of
economic shifts. The type of work they do at age 30 likely will be
substantially different from what they do at ages 40, 50, or 60.”[3]
Individuals need to be equipped to navigate this ever-changing
environment which requires them to identify alternative careers, enroll
in and complete relevant education and training programs, and find jobs
upon graduation.
Providing high-quality instruction in the STEM fields is only part of
the solution to preparing students for the changing workforce.
Completing these steps is easier said than done. Anthony Carnevale,
Director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the
Workforce, explains: “Educational pathways are largely disconnected
from the job market, which inhibits students’ ability to see their
future career pathways lucidly. Policymakers, postsecondary officials
and students are not provided with data that keeps them informed.”[4]
As new technologies continue to reshape the nature of work and the
types of jobs available for humans, it is increasingly important to
design policies and programs that help individuals find and complete
appropriate education, career, and retraining pathways.
OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH AI AND ET
While changes in AI and ET create challenges, these technological
advancements also provide opportunities. First, innovations in
artificial intelligence can provide teachers with valuable resources.
Blended learning, defined as “the strategic integration of in-person
learning with technology to enable real-time data use, personalized
instruction, and mastery-based progression,” uses emerging technology
to help teachers personalize education for individual students. This
approach is generally known as personalized learning. Studies have
found that personalized learning is a promising approach, although
implementation challenges remain. Rigorous evaluation of ongoing
experimentation with blended and personalized learning will be critical
to developing effective approaches to using technology in the
classroom. One lesson, described in multiple analyses, is the
importance of supporting teachers and educators in using technology to
enhance their instruction.
Second, AI and other emerging technologies can be used to create
scalable resources that support large numbers of students and others as
they navigate education, training, and career pathways. Promising
innovations include a conversational AI system that uses personalized
text message outreach to help incoming college students complete
required pre-matriculation tasks. The University of Virginia, through
its “nudge4” center, is working on innovations that leverage
technologies to support students and others, such as a current project
that seeks to use machine learning to provide personalized transfer
guidance to community college students. Interactive online resources,
such as the Skillful Initiative, provide resources for job seekers,
employers, and career coaches. These innovations and others like them
suggest that even as the workforce evolves due to changes in
technology, policymakers and educators can simultaneously leverage
technological advancements to support students on their higher
education pathways and to connect adults with education and career
opportunities.
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH AI AND ET
While AI and ET allow for innovations in supporting students and job
seekers, impending changes in the workforce also pose substantial
risks. First, existing educational inequities may worsen, accompanied
by negative downstream consequences. Nationally representative
assessments reveal large and persistent gaps in student achievement by
race and income. High-income students are also more likely than
low-income students to complete college, even as completion rates among
low-income students have risen.[5] Compounding this problem,
differences in school resources that correlate with residential and
income segregation mean it is likely that the schools best poised to
prepare students for changes in the workforce are those that serve
children from higher income families.
Differences in school resources that correlate with residential and
income segregation mean it is likely that the schools best poised to
prepare students for changes in the workforce are those that serve
children from higher income families.
In this context, policies designed to help students prepare for the
future workforce that fail to account for existing inequalities will
likely perpetuate these inequalities. For example, based on research
about how students responded to newly available information on earnings
via the College Scorecard, researchers Harry Holzer and Sandy Baum
argue that “[j]ust making general information available is unlikely to
significantly improve the college decisions of students from
less-privileged backgrounds.”[6] Without sufficient attention from
policymakers, existing inequalities may widen as the job market
contracts.
Second, adapting education to meet changes in the workforce carries the
risk of creating overly narrow education goals. In the United States,
preparing students to enter the workforce has long been one of the
central goals of education. But it is not the only goal, nor should it
be. Additional goals include preparing students to engage productively
with other members of society and to participate in civic life and the
democratic process. For now, there seems to be at least some bipartisan
consensus that the goals of education include but are broader than
workforce development, reflected in the lack of movement on (and
criticism of) the Trump administration’s recent proposal to merge the
Departments of Education and Labor. Anticipated changes in the
workforce wrought by advances in technology do not require us to
abandon longstanding goals of education.[7]
RECOMMENDATIONS
Given these challenges, risks, and opportunities, this paper makes
several recommendations with respect to education policy to help
students and workers adapt to changes in the workforce given advances
in AI and ET.
Recommendation 1: State standards and curricula should incorporate 21st
century skills across subject areas. The Every Student Succeeds Act,
passed in 2015, increased states’ flexibility in determining how to
hold schools accountable for student learning. While high-stakes tests
(particularly in math and reading) are still likely to inform what
students learn, schools have renewed latitude to focus on 21st century
skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and
teamwork. States can prioritize these skills by incorporating them into
subject-area standards and curricula. Multiple resources exist to
facilitate these changes in different subject areas, including the Next
Generation Science Standards and the College, Career, and Civic Life
Framework for Social Studies State Standards. This is not a
prescription for states to adopt a certain set of standards. Rather,
these standards and frameworks may serve as valuable resources for
states seeking to help students develop the skills that will likely be
in high demand as AI and ET reshape the workforce.
Under ESSA, schools have renewed latitude to focus on 21st century
skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and
teamwork. States can prioritize these skills by incorporating them into
subject-area standards and curricula.
Recommendation 2: Federal legislation and policy should explore and
support workforce development partnerships. Building partnerships
between educators at the postsecondary level and employers is crucial
for providing students with opportunities to pursue careers that are
likely to remain available to humans. At the same time, creating
meaningful partnerships requires investments in time and resources on
both sides.[8] Building a strong evidence base about how to design and
implement effective partnerships between employers and two- and
four-year colleges can help convince schools and employers to invest in
these partnerships and can support them in providing effective programs.
The federal government can provide valuable leadership in this area.
The Trump administration’s National Council on the American Worker
could explore promising models of these partnerships, convene educators
and employers to discuss potential paths forward, and identify concrete
policies that the federal government could pursue to facilitate
innovation in this area. The Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the
research arm of the Department of Education, recently announced plans
to expand coverage of postsecondary education “especially with regard
to career and technical training” in the What Works Clearinghouse, a
federal repository of evidence-based research on education. This
expanded coverage could include research on partnerships between
postsecondary institutions and employers, with the aim of understanding
how to create a system in which students successfully navigate from
college to careers.
Recommendation 3: Support displaced workers and other “non-traditional
students” in their search for new career pathways. As advances in AI
displace current members of the workforce, people who have been in the
workforce for years will need support in finding new careers. Given the
difficulty of navigating education and career pathways, supporting
these individuals should be a high priority. Existing resources, such
as one-stop career centers provided for under the Workforce Innovation
and Opportunities Act (WIOA), will become increasingly important.
Continued investment in these brick and mortar resources alongside
rigorous evaluation of their programming will improve our knowledge of
how to design and provide effective career services. WIOA also
allocates funds to study the effectiveness of workforce development
systems with respect to “assisting workers to obtain the skills needed
to utilize emerging technologies.” This funding is one example of how
federal policy can support research and development of programs
designed to support workers as the type of available work changes.
Creating and disseminating online resources designed specifically for
this population is also important. For example, Georgetown’s Carnevale
advocates creating online matching systems that “tie job exchanges
(online job-search engines) to learning exchanges that match job
openings and career pathways to available courses offered by
postsecondary institutions in the classroom and online.” Other online
resources such as the Skillful Initiative, mentioned above, provide
support for job seekers, employers, and career coaches. Building an
evidence base through rigorous evaluation of these and similar programs
will be crucial to identifying effective support systems.
CONCLUSION
This paper has discussed several of the major challenges and
opportunities that AI and ET pose to educators at the K-12 and
postsecondary levels, given predicted changes in the workforce. Two
broad lessons arise from this discussion. First, leveraging advances in
AI and ET may allow for scalable programs capable of reaching many
different types of individuals who will need support adapting to
changes in the workforce. Second, investing in innovation and
evaluation of promising programs to address these challenges should be
a high priority for the philanthropic and business communities as well
as for policymakers at every level of government.
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