How Generative AI is rewriting the future of education IT in India

India's education sector is valued at a whopping $117bn today and will be worth more than $300bn by 2030. With opportunities abounding across segments like K12, competitive coaching, professional education and employee upskilling, this industry is undergoing rapid transformation. While the pandemic accelerated the digitization of learning experiences, rapid penetration of connectivity and smartphone adoption is widening the prospects further. This has opened up new avenues for education information technology (IT) businesses across the spectrum of education delivery. More recently, generative AI (GenAI) has taken the world of education by storm. Not only is it challenging legacy models and dynamics of education, but it also proposes more innovative and adaptive ways of learning. Here’s how education IT leaders can take charge and rewrite the future of education with profitable and impactful interventions.

Generative AI: A double-edged sword in education

Like all AI technologies, GenAI has had a mixed impact on the established dynamics of education so far. Therefore, before capitalizing on it to roll out new products, education IT leaders should thoroughly understand how GenAI impacts the education sector today. There are two key aspects to focus on here.

The potential upside of GenAI in education

GenAI is essentially a content generation technology. Because education is a content-intensive sector, GenAI sees promising applications throughout the sector. For instance, it can be used to personalize learning programs to suit the learning caliber and pace of students or make educational content accessible to learners of different languages. Moreover, it can help teachers and tutors grade assignments, develop questionnaires and create learning material.

The potential downside of GenAI in education

GenAI can also erode the efficacy of and trust in education systems if used without guardrails and monitoring. For instance, it creates the scope for bypassing assignments (through a phenomenon called AI-assisted cheating) and can diminish the outcomes of learning. GenAI also lacks the ability to create out-of-the-box educational content, which is essential to deliver impactful learning experiences. In addition, it opens up data privacy and security risks as the technology is conversational in nature.

Key opportunity areas for education IT leaders

Leading educational institutions' response to GenAI indicates that the technology is here to stay and will act as a catalyzing force in the sector. Taking these cues, education IT leaders can exploit GenAI to bolster their edtech portfolios across all sub-segments of the education industry in India.

GenAI-based products can be aimed at learners and teachers alike, as yet another class of solutions that can help curtail the detrimental effects of GenAI on education. Here are three key opportunity areas to focus on.

Enabling teachers and tutors with innovative GenAI products

GenAI's ability to mitigate tutor workload makes it a promising technology in a country with a high teacher-student ratio. In online learning, CXOs are leveraging GenAI to augment human tutors by enabling them to respond to a higher volume of student queries quickly. Startups like upGrad and Simplilearn are already betting on GenAI to enhance the support function in education.

https://www.investindia.gov.in/sector/education#:~:text=The%20education%20sector%20in%20India,of%2011.2%25%20during%202023%2D2028

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Some edtech companies are implementing GenAI tools like ChatGPT with custom wrappers to generate quizzes, help tutors plan their lessons and grade assignments. Such products can also be marketed to institutions with hybrid learning environments to mitigate the administrative workload of teachers and expand the room for meaningful human touch in physical classrooms.

Enhancing learner outcomes with GenAI-assisted experiences

One of the most promising applications of GenAI is in personalizing learning experiences. This can be especially impactful in edtech platforms used by formal institutions and massive online open course (MOOC) providers. GenAI models can be used within such platforms to infer learner progress, following which teachers can take meaningful, personalized actions to bolster understanding and retention for each learner. Edtech startups have already rolled out such products in the market. For example, generative AI models called MathGPT, TeacherGPT and BADRI, developed by Byju's, are now a part of their WIZ learning module, a product for delivering highly-personalised learning. Similarly, edtech platforms can be augmented with GenAI-based summarisation and revision capabilities to help learners perform better on exams.

Solutions to mitigate the risks of GenAI applications in education

Finally, GenAI adoption will not come without a novel set of risks. When learners and teachers start using these products extensively, data privacy and security risks will manifest as users leave footprints of their data across the spectrum of GenAI tools.

Edtech leaders can develop products and integrations to smooth out this transition for the education sector. These will come in the form of de-identification and anonymization solutions to mitigate sensitive data breaches and monitoring tools that can check for learners' and teachers' compliance with the guidelines of GenAI use.

Plethora of Opportunities

In conjunction with the digitization of education, GenAI is opening up a plethora of opportunities for education IT leaders. While GenAI can impact established dynamics of learning both positively and negatively, education IT leaders have a key role to play in ushering its adoption. GenAI-powered products and risk mitigation solutions for GenAI will, therefore, be key additions to education IT portfolios.

Tata Tele Business Services (TTBS) is a key force in enabling this digital revolution of the education sector in India. With its line-up of foundational connectivity, cloud, security and SaaS services, TTBS is paving the way for a smarter, brighter and more accessible education sector in India. With GenAI-powered offerings and technology leaders like TTBS, education IT executives are well-positioned to create the perfect storm for personalized digital learning.

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