By Hilal Tariq al Barwani

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has changed the way we’ve interacted with technology, and we’ve witnessed its remarkable advances throughout the years, reaching high levels of intelligence from chatbots, self-driving cars etc. 

However, how could AI help our educational sector? Schools have changed drastically from back in my father’s time to mine, from blackboards turning into smartboards, and physical books being replaced by E-books in some schools in Oman. 

It’s no doubt that technology has had a huge impact on education. However, will we one day see our schools in Oman use chatbots like ChatGPT to enhance the way our students learn? Read here how AI like ChatGPT could benefit schools in Oman.

Firstly, with ChatGPT’s strong and wide knowledge base, students and teachers could both benefit from it in many ways. For example: if a student had any difficulty understanding a certain concept or chapter, they could take advantage of ChatGPT’s powerful ability to provide them with any information they desire, with explanations, examples and clarifications on the concept they’re stuck on. 

ChatGPT could also act as a virtual tutor at home by assisting students with homework and assessments, and because it’s available around the clock, students can access learning whenever they need it, helping them both inside and outside of their classroom at home.  Teachers could also benefit from this if they were in a situation where they need any assistance in explaining a topic to their students.

Secondly, one of the key advantages of integrating ChatGPT into schools is that it gives students their own personalised experience of learning. By learning about the students’ strengths and weaknesses, ChatGPT could provide custom study plans and recommendations, and can help learning at a comfortable pace where they can slowly but surely understand topics well. ChatGPT could also change the way they learn by making it more interactive and fun, for example by creating gamified quizzes, which makes students have a more enjoyable experience learning their topics, and encourages them to develop a liking for education.

In Oman, where we have many schools of different ethnicities where not all languages are spoken, or where some students might not understand English as well as other students, ChatGPT’s ability to understand and communicate in any language breaks language barriers, enabling any student to learn and benefit from AI. Fun fact, you could also learn other languages with ChatGPT and practise your skills by trying to have a conversation with the chatbot, while receiving feedback and advice for improvements!

Also, with the integration of AI to schools, students would surely be impressed with the massive capabilities of AI, and also experience some of the limitations it has, which creates an interest in technology and learning how AI works and how they could make their own chatbots and AI, and maybe even tackle the limitations today’s chatbots have! 

In conclusion, integrating AI in schools here in Oman would create huge benefits for our students, making learning easier and more enjoyable. And who knows, with AI constantly being more intelligent every day, could we ever see teachers be replaced by AI in the near future?