UNESCO Publishes First Guidance on GenAI Use in Education
Source; UNESCO seeks regulation in first guidance on GenAI use in education | Reuters
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has published its first guidance on the use of Generative AI (GenAI) for education on Thursday, September 7, 2023. The guidance aims to help governmental agencies regulate the use of the technology, protect data privacy, and set an age limit for users.
GenAI is a type of artificial intelligence that can generate content such as text, images, audio, or video based on a few lines of prompts. GenAI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Bard have become popular among students who use them to generate anything from essays to mathematical calculations.
However, UNESCO warns that GenAI poses significant challenges and risks for the education system, such as undermining the quality of learning, infringing on intellectual property rights, spreading disinformation and hate speech, and depriving learners of opportunities to develop cognitive abilities and social skills.
The guidance provides a series of recommendations for governments, educators, researchers, and GenAI providers to ensure that GenAI is used in a responsible, ethical, and beneficial way for education. Some of the recommendations are:
- Governments should develop and implement AI curricula for school education and technical and vocational education and training.
- Educators should be trained and supported to use GenAI effectively and critically in their teaching practices.
- Researchers should conduct rigorous and independent evaluations of the impact of GenAI on learning outcomes, pedagogy, and equity.
- GenAI providers should ensure adherence to core values and lawful purposes, respect intellectual property and ethical practices, and prevent the spread of disinformation and hate speech.
UNESCO also calls for international cooperation and dialogue among stakeholders to develop common standards and principles for GenAI use in education. The guidance is based on a 64-page report that reviews the current state of GenAI in education and its implications for human rights, democracy, and sustainable development.
The guidance is available online at: https://unesco.org/genai-guidance