EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

ANANTHA K. DURAIAPPAH
ISSUE 9, 2018
Director
PUBLISHED BY UNESCO MGIEP
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and interactive manner. The magazine is designed to address
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discourse on education for peace, sustainable development and
global citizenship beyond academia, civil society organisations
and governments, to the actual stakeholders.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this magazine

do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of
UNESCO MGIEP.

The image used on the cover of this issue of The Blue Dot is
purely representational and conceptual in nature.
 director’s
message

Artificial Intelligence
for Education
tutor. Personalised learning, the holy grail
of education, is a definite reality in this
hypothetical scenario. As I perceive it,
making this a reality for children today is a
distinct possibility.
Is this just in the realms of fiction or
a potential reality? The recent growing
importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
seems to point such a scenario as a
reality within our reach. However, there
DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
message is achievable and if yes, what
needs to be done to achieve that holy grail
of education.
This issue was based on one of the five
main themes of our recently concluded
TECH 2018 conference in Vizag, India,
titled ‘AI and Education’, for which
some of the world’s leading experts were
invited to elaborate on the theme. Equally
important to have is the discussion on the

“Look again at that dot.
That’s here. That’s home. That’s us.
On it, everyone you love,
everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of,
every human being who ever was,
lived out their lives.
The aggregate of our joy and suffering
thousands of confident religions,
ideologies, and economic doctrines,
every hunter and forager, every hero and coward,
every creator and destroyer of civilization,
every king and peasant, every young couple in love,
every mother and father, hopeful child,
inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals,
every corrupt politician, every superstar,
every supreme leader, every saint
and sinner in the history of our species lived there-
on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”
CARL SAGAN
PALE BLUE DOT: A VISION OF THE HUMAN FUTURE IN SPACE
A
has also been growing concern over the privacy and ownership of information that
child somewhere
ethical and moral use of AI coupled will be generated by learners and teachers.
in “poor” India is
with a fear of AI and making many jobs The use of information is a contentious
having trouble with
redundant. Although the use of AI in the issue that needs to be addressed early as we
introductory algebra.
education sector is at the nascent stage, embark on the exciting and path-breaking
This is new content for the child and the
these fears are reflected as well and in journey that I have termed the The
bigger problem the child faces is that the
particular to the rising sentiment that AI Internet of Education (TIE). I hope that
teacher is hardly ever in school. There is
will replace teachers. this journey will culminate in education
some hope, however, as s/he has good
Doucher and Evers, in their seminal and knowledge becoming accessible to
access to the Internet and to the many
book, “Teaching in the Fourth Revolution: and beneficial for all of humanity. A High
online teaching tools on the subject.
Standing at the Precipice”, argue that AI Level Policy Forum on development of
Despite this, the child cannot afford a
will no doubt have a major impact in the guidelines was initiated at the TECH
personalised online tutor and continues
way learning and teaching will happen in 2018, after which the Vizag Declaration
to struggle to understand the basic
the future. There is no looking back. was adopted at the closing ceremony of
concepts. That, I believe, might be a
But what that future will look like is for the conference, calling for development of
close description of the current education
us here at the present to guide that journey. Guidelines for Digital Learning.
system in India and many parts of the
One thing is for sure: the traditional roles We here at UNESCO MGIEP have
world.’
of learners and teachers will evolve and already begun this journey by partnering
Now visualise a system where the
will need to be more symbiotic. with like-minded organisations and have
child is given access to an online global
But before we go into details of AI’s role developed a prototype platform called
intelligent education platform. As part
in education, some understanding of its CHI (Collective Human Intelligence). This
of this system, the child is paired with
scope is necessary. AI experts categorise platform allows educators and learners
a personalised BOT right after s/he
three main types of AI: Strong AI, Weak to develop curriculum, lesson plans and
enters school. This BOT develops a keen
AI and Artificial General Intelligence. assessments in an interactive, immersive
understanding of the child’s attributes and
These are well explored and the myth and experiential environment, which is
learning preferences by evaluating data of
behind AI is discussed in this issue of supported by AI that is able to provide
the child’s ongoing learning experiences.’
The Blue Dot. These systems have been feedback to students and educators of
The BOT has access to a finite set
elaborated upon in detail and the myths progress and suggestions to improve
of possible interventions – arising from
surrounding them have been dispelled by learning.
learner-centric data derived from the
some of the world’s foremost AI experts.
experiences of millions of children
The second part of the AI and
learning algebra worldwide – to help the
education relationship explores how
child overcome learning problems. The
AI can be used to improve learning
BOT can parse all the learner-centric data
and make it relevant for 21st century
to identify specific interventions suited to
challenges. Articles written on this topic
the particular child who is its responsibility
will explore whether the new world that ANANTHA KUMAR DURAIAPPAH
– functioning as a virtual, personalised
I had proposed in the beginning of my Director, UNESCO MGIEP

0 1
F ORE W ORD
Artificial Intelligence &
Currently, there is no universally
Education & UNESCO’s recognised institutional framework
on the ethics of AI, particularly in
Way Forward relation to education.
T
M M E A U D R E Y A Z O U L AY
D I R E C TO R - G E N E R A L , U N E S C O he permeation of new technologies and Artificial
Intelligence (AI) is changing how we teach, live,
work and learn. Undoubtedly, AI has the potential
to widely benefit us and resolve various societal
issues. At the same time, it also presents certain challenges that
need to be addressed. Yet, if we are able to prepare ourselves to
tackle these challenges, we will be able to benefit widely from this
collective intelligence and the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’.
In the field of education, AI is expected to have a
significant impact, transforming the way teachers work
by offering new teaching aids. It could revolutionise the way
in which students learn through personalised learning and through
greater access to knowledge thus also potentially facilitating more
inclusive education.
Clearly, the possibilities are tremendous. However, there are some
associated risks, particularly those related to individual privacy
and ethics. UNESCO, by its mandate, is ideally placed to
play a key role by supporting Member States to increase
accessibility of technology, promoting the use of open-
source AI platforms and tools that encourage learning.
Additionally, UNESCO’s role will be crucial to rethink educational
curricula, by bringing into focus social and emotional learning to
build the emotional intelligence of future generations of learners.
Currently, there is no universally recognised institutional framework
on the ethics of AI, particularly in relation to education. It is
UNESCO’s duty, with the support of Member States,
to lead a global debate in order to establish a globally
accepted framework of ethical principles and we have
already begun work in this area.
The ninth issue of The Blue Dot, focuses on AI and the future of
education. It explores debates on the use of AI in education and the
potential it offers to complement existing education systems and
teachers, as well as in facilitating personalised learning. Indeed, I
ISSUE • 9
FOREWORD
am very pleased to share that our Category I Institute in
the Asia-Pacific, the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute
of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development
(MGIEP), has taken the lead on SEL and exploring ways
AI can be harnessed to integrate SEL into our Education
systems.
I am particularly pleased with the progress that has been made with
the development of an open-source indigenously-designed and
collaborative curriculum development and learning platform that
allows educators and students to innovate, develop and implement
curriculum. This Collective Human Intelligence platform will use
advanced AI and data analytics tools to personalise the learning
experience for each user, as well as address data ownership, privacy
and security issues.
Furthermore, I welcome the collaboration between the Institute
and the State Government of Andhra Pradesh, India, as well
as other partners and experts in the field of EdTech to establish
global guidelines for the exponentially growing field of digital
learning tools and methodologies. These guidelines will help the
development of digital pedagogical tools to effectively harness this
new technology for the betterment of society. I also look forward
to the outcomes of the Institute’s annual international EdTech
conference, TECH 2018, for which AI and Education was a
key focus area. I wish the Institute all the best in its endeavours
to mainstream SEL through the use of AI: a vital issue as we
deliberate on the ethics of AI.
0 3
F ORE W ORD

Approach to

FOREWORD
AI is concerned with understanding
Artificial Intelligence for intelligence, by investigating the
design of machines that have

Education and Training intelligent abilities.

A rtificial Intelligence (AI) is no

longer just a Hollywood invention,
it is already impacting our lives.
From truck drivers, whose role may be
replaced by autonomous vehicles, to paralegal workers who can
be outsmarted by AI software, the world of work is changing with
increasing pace. The implications for education and training are
significant and far reaching. We need to prepare people for a future
that will likely be evolving quickly, and not everyone will have a
positive experience. However, it is not all doom and gloom. We
can also reap huge benefits from AI if we approach it
intelligently.
to software that can support students with individual tutoring for
their school and university studies, and learning platforms that
provide educational support informed by neuroscience. We can
track students’ interactions, from every mouse movement and each
keystroke and use AI to analyse each student’s performance in
detail. This analysis provides personalised learning for the student
and detailed feedback about the learning status of every student in
their class for teachers. Well-designed AI can help us tackle some
of our toughest educational challenges, such as global teacher
shortages and the achievement gap between the more and less
advantaged members of the population.

But what exactly is AI, and how can we approach it intelligently?

AI is concerned with understanding intelligence by

ROSE LUCKIN
PROFESSOR,UCL Knowledge Lab
investigating the design of machines that have intelligent
abilities. AI has gained traction recently because of the ‘perfect
storm’ brought about by the availability of large quantities of data,
powerful computer processing with large clouds of cheap, accessible
storage and AI algorithms that can learn. These 3 factors: data,
computing (power and storage), and sophisticated AI means that we
can build vast AI ‘knowledge’ bases that can be sifted and searched
with stunning accuracy to pinpoint the minutiae of detail required
to diagnose a disease, process an image, beat world champion game
players and to help us navigate through our complex physical and
virtual worlds.
The intelligent way to approach AI is to focus on planning
educational and training systems that use AI wisely to
prepare people to work and live with AI. The situation is
summarised in Figure 1
This figure illustrates that we need to:
1. Engage educators and trainers in working with AI developers to
build AI technology that is specifically designed for education and
training. This AI development has already started: from experiential
digital learning driven by AI powered virtual role play simulations,
2. Educate people about AI, so that they can use it successfully,
ethically and knowledgeably. For some people, this understanding
about AI needs to be more extensive, to train people to: make
responsible ethical decisions about how and when AI should be
used; or develop the next generation of AI technology. Educating
people about AI, can also be assisted by well-designed AI systems.
3. Prioritise the development of our own human intelligence so that
we focus attention on the elements of intelligence that are not (yet)
automatable with AI, such as social intelligence and metacognitive
intelligence. This too can be assisted by the smart use of well-
designed AI to track and support our learning and increase our
intelligence. For more detail about this, please see my 2018 book:
Machine Learning and Human Intelligence.
The thoughtful design of AI approaches to education and
training has the potential to provide significant benefits
to educators, learners, parents and managers. It is a reason
for great excitement and concerted intelligent effort.

ISSUE • 9 0 5
CONTENTS ISSUE 9, 2018
36 44

Director’s Message 01 • Declaration of Independence II

By Dan Shefet
Artificial Intelligence for Education
By Anantha Kumar Duraiappah | Director, UNESCO MGIEP • Dreams & Reality: How AI will change Education YOUTH VOICES
By Harri Ketamo FEATURE ARTICLE
• Can Artificial Intelligence Help Us Achieve Universal
Foreword 02 • CHI – a Knowledge Sharing Digital Platform Powered Quality Education?
30 by Machine Learning
Saurabh Roy | Chief Technology Officer, UNESCO MGIEP
By James Hodson
• Artificial Intelligence & Education & UNESCO’s
Way Forward • Artificial Intelligence for Education
By Audrey Azoulay | Director-General, Unesco By Soma S Dhavala

• Approach to Artificial Intelligence for Education &

INTERVIEWS 40
Training • Interview with Dr. Avik Sarkar, Head – Data Analytics
By Rose Luckin | Professor, UCL Knowledge Lab Cell at NITI Aayog, Govt. of India 50

42
06

ACTIVITY BULLETIN
OPINIONS
What we have been up to at UNESCO MGIEP

• The Digital Transformation of K-12: A Viewpoint

By Cathie Norris & Elliot Soloway
COVER STORY

• Peace Machine as a Re-emerging Gandhi

• Personalising ‘Learning’ - Can AI Promise
COMIC STRIP 60
Customised Education For ‘Humanity’ TECH 2018
By Timo Honkela Learning with AI
Nandini Chatterjee Singh & Raunak Jain
What to Expect at TECH 2018?
• Promoting Peace: How Can Data Science Assist?
By Srujana Merugu

Expert
Perspectives
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of
Education
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has caught the
imagination of the world and has been gaining
popularity in the business sector. To date, the
use of AI in education has been limited and at
times contested; most arguments against it centre
on how it will make teachers redundant and
learning more automated than it is currently.
Rather than replacing teachers and making
learning impersonal, AI could take learning to a
completely new level. Read what academicians,
policymakers, practitioners and researchers have
to say about the use of Artificial Intelligence
(AI) in Education
opinion
The Digital Transformation
OPINION
of K-12: A Viewpoint
C AT H I E N O R R I S , Regents Professor, Department of Learning Technologies, College of Information at
The University of North Texas
E L L I OT S O LO WAY, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Department of Cse, College Of Engineering, at
The University Of Michigan
Dr. Cathleen Norris is the Regents Professor & Chairperson, Department of
Learning Technologies, College of Information, University of North Texas. Dr.
Norris’ 14 years in K-12 classrooms – and receiving Dallas’ Golden Apple Award
– has shaped her university R&D agenda: developing resources to support
K-12 teachers as they move into 21st century classrooms. From 1995-2001,
Dr. Norris was President of the National Educational Computing Association
(NECA), and led its merger with ISTE, the International Society for Technology
in Education, creating the largest, international organisation for technology-
minded educators in the world. Dr. Norris was Co-President/President of ISTE
from 2001-2004.
Dr. Elliot Soloway is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Department of Computer
Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, with appointments also in
the School of Education and School of Information, University of Michigan. For
15+ years, Dr. Soloway’s R&D efforts have been guided by the vision that mobile,
low-cost, networked devices are the only way to truly achieve universal 1:1 in
schools – all across the globe. In 2001, the UMich undergraduates selected him
to receive the “Golden Apple Award” as the Outstanding Teacher of the Year at
the University of Michigan. In 2004 and in 2011, College of Engineering HKN
Honor Society students selected Dr. Soloway to receive the “Distinguished
Teacher of the Year Award.” In 2001, Norris and Soloway founded GoKnow,
Inc., one of the first mobile learning companies; over 40,000 students
worldwide used GoKnow’s Mobile Learning Environment. In 2012, Norris and
Soloway founded the Intergalactic Mobile Learning Center, and with support
from private (e.g., Qualcomm, Google, George Lucas Education Foundation)
and public (e.g., National Science Foundation) sources, has published the
Collabrify Suite of Apps and the Collabrify Roadmap System – free, device-
independent, tools, used in classrooms all around the world.
0 7
OPINION
The Digital Transformation of K-12: A
Viewpoint
• “Most1 school leaders know we’re in the midst of a digital
transformation, with a size and scope larger and more significant
than anything we’ve seen before…. Educators know they have to
change but are challenged by the convergence of technology and
pedagogy. What technologies can affect learning and experience?
How can we get all educators on board? How can we build a case
to support our goals? What’s our future vision?”
The above quote sums up the status of the “digital
transformation”, or DX2 to the cognoscenti, in K-12: desire – at
least some – is there, but action – for the most part – is lacking.
Arguably, the digital transformation of K-12 education is the most
important task ahead for us in education. It is towards developing
a deeper understanding of what digital transformation is, why it
needs to be undertaken, and how it can be accomplished, that we
write this Blue Dot article. So, let’s begin with the “what.”
What is Digital transformation?
• “Digital transformation3 is a fundamental shift in how a firm
delivers value and drives revenue.”
• “Digital transformation4 involves using digital technologies to
retool business models and processes to make them more efficient
or effective.”
While those quotes had “business” not “education” in
mind, the reality is this: educating students is as much a
business as banking, retailing, entertaining, etc. are!
Let’s unpack those dense sentences:
• “… a fundamental shift …” Not just a “shift” but a “fundamental
shift.” Not digital transition but digital transformation. Words do
count here and what is being proposed is truly a dramatic and
“fundamental” break with the past. Analog, paper-and-pencil
technologies, while comfortable and effective – for some – are not
the building blocks of the future. Digital is based on bits; analog
is based on atoms. Atoms and bits are different: duplicating atoms
is expensive; duplicating bits is trivial; changing atoms – erasing a
word in a sentence – is messy and time consuming; changing bits –
plopping in a new word into a sentence – is easy, quick, and cheap.
Indeed, we are only beginning to appreciate the implications of a
world based on bits, not atoms.
• “… how a firm delivers value and drives revenue.” Delivering
“value” is absolutely the top priority in schools. While that value
shares much with the past – education must develop students to be
ethical individuals, 21st century students must develop 21st
ISSUE • 9
OPINION
While those quotes had “business” not
“education” in mind, the reality is this:
educating students is as much a business
as banking, retailing, entertaining, etc.
are!
century skills – creativity, communication, collaboration, and
critical thinking. And, while “driving revenue” is not a focus of
public education, the public purse snaps shut if value is not being
delivered!
• “… using digital technologies” — The new acronym for the
range of technologies encompassed by the term “digital” is
SMAC5: social, mobile, analytics and cloud technologies. But
let’s make it “SMAAC” – where the second A represents “AI” or
artificial intelligence.
• “… retool business models and processes” — Simply put
a “business model” is the way a company makes money. For
example, one of Apple’s core business models is manufacturing
and selling iPhones. But, if the rumors6 are true, Apple is creating
a new streaming service that includes original TV content, so that
collecting subscription fees is an example of Apple retooling its
business model and processes. In education, rather than a teacher
standing in front of the class and delivering a lecture, while
students copy down on paper the teacher’s words, schools will need
to develop “digital pedagogies” that exploit SMAAC and provide
students with the personalised learning experiences that they are
demanding.
• “2018 Digital School Districts Survey: Respondents Use And the only way to provide personalised learning is via
• “… make [the business models and processes] more efficient or Technology to Put Students First” technology13:
effective” —The terms “efficiency” and “effective” are at the core
of digital transformation. We will explore those terms when we The survey11, tapping into schools in “small, mid-sized and • “More than nine in 10 respondents to a survey on
discuss the “how” of digital transformation. large districts in 24 states” conducted by the Center for Digital the topic reported that in the pursuit of encouraging
Education found12 that: personalised learning, their districts 1) provide software
or digital curriculum to classrooms … 2) provide
computing devices to classrooms…”
Why Is Digital Transformation Needed? More than nine in 10 respondents to a
As we will describe in the “How” section below, there are several
• “Nine out of 10 businesses today are undergoing some form
7 survey on the topic reported that in the ways to provide personalised learning – but they all employ
technology.
of digital transformation and customer experience is a stated top pursuit of encouraging personalised
priority.”
learning, their districts 1) provide software Besides needing to improve “customer experience,” digital
While there is debate that the 1983 “Nation At Risk” report
8 or digital curriculum to classrooms … 2) transformation is needed because those customers – the students
of today and most assuredly of tomorrow – are expecting it!
may have portrayed American education in an overly poor light, provide computing devices to classrooms Today’s students are virtually born with a “phone” – the students
there is no question that there is considerable room for improving9
student achievement in U.S. schools. Indeed, in education today, of today do not call their mobile devices “smartphones” but simply
“customer experience is the priority!” The following title10 of an “phones” – in their hands. Phones: The penetration of personally
article paints a clear picture: • “The top learning priority in education for technology use is owning a smartphone is now down14 to the 12-13 year olds in
personalised learning. 5th grade15. Yes, today, the research16 is mixed on whether using
0 9
OPINION
computers for learning leads to increased student achievement.
But, just as entertainment, medicine, retailing, farming, banking,
etc., etc., are not going back to analog technologies, education is
not going back to paper-and-pencil technologies. Educators will
learn how to use digital devices to enhance learning; it’s only a
matter of time.
How is Digital Transformation Realized?
In carrying out DX, the consensus is that technology itself is
important:
• “Digital transformation is often driven by the IT organization. …
The technology is actually the center of what growth is built on.
The technology implications are driving the future of the business
itself.”
And the core technology driver will be AI – Artificial Intelligence:
• “If [your company doesn’t17] have an AI strategy, you’re going to
die in the world that’s coming. … more and more AI interfaces will
provide natural language inputs and outputs, and proactively make
decisions on the user’s behalf … “
AI – or, more accurately18, ML – machine learning19 – is the latest,
cure-all, technological hype in a long line of technological hype –
some successful (2G, 3G, 4G), some not (have you seen a 3D TV
lately?) AI is not a new technology; researchers have been
exploring AI since the early days20 of computing. But,
thanks to the exponential growth of the chip industry, as predicted
so presciently by Gordon Moore in 1965, AI has come on the
scene now only because computers are finally21 powerful enough –
at everyday prices – to actually run the computation necessary to
implement “AI.”
As we have argued previously22:
• “Machine learning techniques underlying personalised
learning will disrupt, in the Christensen-sense, your
child’s school in the near term. You can take that
prediction to the bank!”
For example, in early math education, in grades 1-3, companies
such as Dreambox23 and Knewton24 are providing personalised
instruction25 systems that do result in improved test scores. That
said, we urge the interested reader to review a “confession26”
by Larry Berger, CEO of Amplify27, Inc., who has been trying
to build personalised learning systems for over 10 years. Berger
argues that there are a number of issues that prevent the
development of a personalised learning system for all grades and
all subjects and for all students.
But, let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water: machine
ISSUE • 9
Machine learning techniques underlying
personalised learning will disrupt, in the
Christensen-sense, your child’s school in
the near term. You can take that prediction
to the bank!
learning algorithms can provide useful learning analytics to
teachers so they can personalize the learning for their students.
While learning analytics can be deceiving at times,
• ”… it has become clear to many that the use of data is critical
to how ‘educators28 evaluate their practices and monitor students’
academic progress.’”
As well, ML can provide more “natural” ways to interact with
computers. For example, the explosion of voice-based interfaces
(e.g., Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa29) point to a future where
voice can be used for both fast and sustained interaction. Integral
to voice-based interfaces is natural language understanding30
by computer. Yes and no. As an experiment, we went into a
kindergarten (children of age 4, 5, 6) and tried to use voice and
natural language software to analyse these children’s utterances.
While the software failed almost every time – kindergartners do
not speak in grammatical sentences, do not enunciate clearly, and
make up words willy-nilly – we were assured by ML engineers that
if they had 5,000 hours of recorded speech from these youngsters,
they could build an effective voice-based, natural language system
for those youngsters! Perhaps!
ML can also support the production of curriculum that serves as
the heartbeat of a classroom.
• Chi.Buzz – Developed at the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi
Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development
(MGIEP), CHI – Collective Human Intelligence – is a platform
for creating digital courses that employs ML to support the
development and enactment of digital courses.
• Collabrify Roadmap – Developed at the Intergalactic Mobile
Learning Center (IMLC), at Roadmap.center educators can create
digital curriculum, Roadmaps, visual, concept-map-like structures,
that guide students through a lesson. Finding content on the
Internet (in the form of OER – Open Education Resources) for
the learning activities in those Roadmaps is a challenging, time-
consuming activity. We are exploring how to incorporate ML to
provide curriculum developers with suggestions about relevant
OER content.
Games, that combine novel, graphical interfaces with ML
algorithms in the context of provocative story-lines, may ultimately
lead the way in the digital transformation of K-12. Presenting And,
OPINION
learning opportunities in the context of solo and collaborative • “Digitally41 maturing [organisations] cultivate a culture that
game play, may well better align with the motivating factors for supports change and attracts talent. Commitment and leadership
today’s learners. As the learners of today play games outside of are required. To succeed, you have to be dedicated to investment,
school, it makes good sense to bring the mode of learning inside change, talent development, and have a clear vision… and be
of school, as well. committed to it.”
We truly believe that a bet against technological change is a really In the business world:
bad bet; new digital technologies will be invented and they will
enable dramatic transformations. But, while ML may have finally • “… all companies42 must transform to be digital companies to
conquered31 the game of Go and bested our best human player32, remain competitive.”
delivering personalised instruction33, diagnosing disease, predicting
financial – and weather – changes, etc. are highly challenging In K-12? The economic forces driving businesses are not
and will require our absolutely best thinking and absolutely best necessarily the same ones that drive K-12 education. What
technology. These are early days for ML; we urge patience and schools, what districts will invest the time and resources to digitally
caution34. transform? Interesting questions – stay tuned!
Now, digital transformation isn’t just about technology! In all the
articles about DX, success in DX involves people, organizational
culture, and leadership:
• “Hire35 the right people to bring about change. Create a culture
that makes data-based decisions.”
• “… success36 requires CEOs to develop the right leadership
capabilities, workforce skills and corporate cultures to support
digital transformation….”
• Easy to say! In today’s schools, teachers are predominately
drawn from the “baby-boomer” and “Gen X” generations, who
are digital immigrants, while the students in their classes are
millennials who are digital natives.
And37,
• “ … research shows that student teachers will initially teach the
way they were taught.”
While teachers can learn and change38, a recent study39 found that:
• “A majority (70-78%) of teachers expressed discomfort with
newer teaching practices that rely on technology”
Daunting! With all the professional development that has
been showered upon today’s teachers, “a majority” are still
uncomfortable using technology to facilitate collaboration, enable
project-based learning, personalize learning, etc.
Concluding Remarks
Digital transformation is not a one-time event; rather it is as
ongoing process:
• “Digital40 is a journey that requires [organisations] to be agile”
1 1
OPINION

OPINION
REFERENCES
REFERENCES
1
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environment.pdf 21
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BkaAkR7EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
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6
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question_on_personalized_learning.html
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and-right-about-u-s-schools
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and-right-about-u-s-schools 29
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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/18/technology/artificial-intelligence-language.html
use-technology-to-put-students-first.html
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use-technology-to-put-students-first.html https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/23/googles-alphago-ai-beats-the-worlds-best-human-go-
32

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usage-in-k12.aspx 33
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usage-in-k12.aspx
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explainer-intl/index.html 36
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/digital-disruption-has-only-just-begun/

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tech-based-teaching-practices.aspx
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education%E2%80%99s-future 40
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20
http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/history-artificial-intelligence/

1 3
ISSUE • 9
opinion
Peace Machine as a
Re-emerging Gandhi
TIMO HONKELA
Timo Honkela serves as a Professor at the University
of Helsinki, Department of Digital Humanities.
Earlier positions include Professorships at the
University of Art and Design Helsinki and Helsinki
University of Technology, where he received his PhD
in 1998. Dr. Honkela has served as Chair of Finnish
Artificial Intelligence Society and as Executive
Board Member of the European Neural Networks
Society. His interests are in philosophical topics
regarding human existence, emergence in relation
to conceptual systems, and cultural evolution.
ISSUE • 9
OPINION
A
rtificial Intelligence (AI) has been under
development for more than 50 years.
Many ideas central to AI have been under
consideration from very early on. The basic
idea is to model or mimic human intelligence, including decision
making, problem solving, language and speech understanding,
machine learning, pattern recognition and a number of other
characteristics. Even emotions and creativity have been taken
into consideration. A common idea among AI researchers is to
see the developments as models of the true phenomenon, not as
independent achievements. Computers are not conscious and
emotional in a human way but successful analysis and modelling
has causal effects in the world of living humans.
The societal impact of AI has grown considerably during
recent years. There are multiple reasons for this development.
The use of artificial neural networks and statistical machine
learning are used to analyse large data collections. These collections
are like artificial experiences: sounds, spoken and written language,
images and videos. The systems have growing cognitive capacity,
ability to model human intellect based on the availability of
increased amount of data and computing power and data storage.
Earlier the systems were programmed with the aim to transfer
expertise into them in the form of rules. Current solutions are
mainly based on programming systems to learn.
world is becoming increasingly frightening, intended to be available for and used by write the book “The Peace Machine -
also due to growing environmental large numbers of people. The Testament of an AI Researcher”,
The AI developments are mostly directed to industrial and
concerns. which was published in October 2017 in
commercial purposes. The steps taken in this may lead into more
Development of the concept of the the Finnish language. The book is now
efficient provision of products and services. An emerging challenge
is that many professionals lose their work. This leads into problems
The Peace Machine is a concept Peace Machine began in early 2017. The being translated to English and should be
of applying AI with a range of author’s own personal history adds another published by 2019. Another effect of this
in the societies as finding the work place as a replacement is not
technologies and disciplines dimension to this. This includes 30 years was that a society in Helsinki came into
straightforward. The AI methodologies are also used to develop
understanding to promote peaceful of research on AI and being diagnosed being in September 2018 to coordinate
increasingly efficient weapons. Overall, many people feel that the
conditions in the world. The with the worst kind of brain cancer. The research, development, and international
main areas are (1) increasing mutual tumor was operated upon in December collaboration on this topic.
understanding among people, (2) 2014 but left the author blind in the right
The Peace Machine is a concept of promoting awareness of one’s own and eye. Nevertheless, the fact that life gave the
applying AI with a range of technologies others’ emotions, and (3) developing fair author a reprieve led to the idea of a book
conditions on a large scale. The Peace on the Peace Machine. Many interviews
and disciplines understanding to promote Machine is not one device or system to newspapers, radio and television
peaceful conditions in the world. but a wide range of modules, tools resulted in an outpouring of support, and
and applications. They are mostly thousands of people helped the author
1 5
OPINION
Increasing mutual understanding among
people
In general, it is hard to arrive at mutual understanding.
It is particularly difficult to achieve this when people have
different backgrounds, education, experience, cultural
contexts, etc. People not only have different values and
opinions, the same words also hold different meanings
for them.This is quite obvious for those who work in multicultural
or international organisations. Information technology has not
been aligned to deal with this phenomenon as computers are
programmed with clear definitions of meaning. The development
of AI and information technology has to be guided by careful,
philosophical understanding. The systems that conduct meaning
negotiations take into account the contexts in which people express
Luckily, in addition to machine
translation, tools for meaning negotiation
can be developed to help in managing
situations in which differences in
experience, education and values have
caused the conceptual systems of people to
be different.
themselves. The meaning of a word is not carved in stone but it is
dependent on the linguistic, external and even internal context. Us
humans can deal with this to some extent but information systems
usually cannot deal with this at all. The idea of unambiguous
meaning and crisp interpretation has been a guiding principle for
many strands of philosophy and for computer science. Regrettably,
it is not practical because we humans form heterogeneous
groups.. Luckily, in addition to machine translation, tools
for meaning negotiation can be developed to help in
managing situations in which differences in experience,
education and values have caused the conceptual
systems of people to be different. The ways in which people
understand language cannot be solved by education because us
human cannot be reprogrammed like machines. The machines
can, however, serve as our interpreters if we so wish.
Good quality machine translation hypothetically improves
peaceful conditions in the world as people can encounter over
language borders. On the other hand, meaning negotiations may
be needed in addition to straightforward machine translation.
Google has succeeded in improving the quality of its machine
translation system by taking into use neural network methodology,
in particular deep learning systems with multiple “intuitive”
information processing layers. The Peace Machine is intended
ISSUE • 9
to be available and useful for people all around the world. To
reach necessary levels of trust, the systems must use open source
software. A system that can have substantial effect on people
cannot be closed within the digital walls of the system. The
citizens and the governments, or their trusted representatives need
to be able to see what is within the system, whether they live in
India, USA, China, Russia, Iran, Israel, Iceland or anywhere else.
Promoting awareness of one’s own and
others’ emotions
An important part of human decision-making is based
on our emotions. Emotions help us to make quick decisions
when swift action is required. On the other hand, our emotions can
become tuned into some less optimal states or reaction tendencies.
From the point of view of promoting peaceful conditions,
orientation towards fear and anger is problematic. They prepare
us to be aggressive and violent. They can be used to manipulate
us to be available for violent actions even when these actions are
against our best interests. It can be also asked if violence is ever
truly well grounded. The true problems in the world are related
to poverty, health and the environment. Violence and war may
sometimes be seen as a means to break through some situation but
there are other solutions. Machines do not have emotions
but they can analyse our emotional states and related
individual and social processes. We can develop our wisdom
with the AI systems that would make us more aware of underlying
mental processes that may be problematic, for instance, due to
childhood trauma or culturally embedded reaction patterns based
on cultural patterns established over generations. It may sound
paradoxical but we could use computers to help us to achieve
progress in these matters. A high level of transparency is needed
Machines do not have emotions but they
can analyse our emotional states and
related individual and social processes.
in the development of these kinds of systems. Machine learning
is not a straightforward solution in all of this because machine
learning, in its most common forms, is based on data that may
also lead to problematic solutions, not only good ones. Therefore,
intentionality is an essential concept: what do we wish to achieve,
why and how. This is only to a limited way a technological
question but much more a societal and ethical question.
OPINION
AI can be used and further developed into
directions that support reaching goals that
Mahatma Gandhi would be happy and
proud of.
Developing fair conditions on a large scale
What is fair can be seen as a question of meaning negotiation.
Moreover, it is an essential question when we consider human
condition and our societies. Situations in different parts of the world
are history dependant to a high degree. Not all people consider
all people to be free and have basic human rights regardless of
their gender, race and position. From the systems theoretical
point of view, equality is a problematic notion. One possibility
of approaching this is to consider distributions and contextual
representations of reality. Like emerging new medicine provides a
chance to take care of each person individually, the societies can
be made better for all taking each person individually, providing
improved conditions for all. This can help in the promotion of
freedom, associated with increasing level of responsibility. The
developments do not need to be directed by a small number
of people like it is done nowadays. Namely, natural language
processing and machine learning is making it possible to organise
true meetings among very large number of people. A meeting of a
million or billion people is not a voting arena but provides chances
for true discussions when matters are considered among people
at a grass root level. People will be able to craft solutions with
unforeseen capacity and level of participation.
Some of the goals for development may sound utopian. However,
the content presented in the book does not relate to predictions but
to goals and plans. AI can be used and further developed
into directions that support reaching goals that
Mahatma Gandhi would be happy and proud of.
1 7
opinion
Promoting Peace: How Can
Data Science Assist?
SRUJANA MERUGU
Srujana is a Machine Learning researcher and
consultant with over a decade of experience. She
currently works as a founding member of a stealth
mode startup. Prior to that, she was a principal data
scientist at Flipkart (Bangalore) and a volunteer
for Ekstep, an education startup. She has been
employed with Machine Learning groups at Amazon
(Bangalore), IBM Research (Bangalore/New Delhi),
and Yahoo Research (Santa Clara). Srujana has
published her work in several conferences and
journals on data mining/machine learning and is
the recipient of multiple best paper awards. She
received her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University
of Texas at Austin and her B. Tech. degree from IIT
Madras.
ISSUE • 9
OPINION
P
eace has long been a professed goal of the
mankind, but it has not been pursued with
the rigour it demands. While many inter-
governmental organisations and policy institutes
do exist, which are dedicated to promoting peace, the study of
peace-building and conflict resolution mechanisms has primarily
been limited to the humanities community with only peripheral
involvement from experts in data science and related areas.
Clearly, the necessity to account for cultural nuances, human
emotions, irrational behavior, and different notions of fairness
in peace-building makes it a highly challenging space for a hard
scientific approach. However, the effectiveness of data science
approaches has been demonstrated in domains with similar
complexity such as advertising, online political campaigning,
personalised learning, and various forms of match-making. The
recent Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal, in particular,
highlights the potency of a data-driven approach to influence
human behavior at a massive scale. The primary reason for
the limited participation of the data science community
in the pursuit of peace is that it has not has been
sufficiently incentivised in our increasingly capitalistic
world unlike advertising, which is now being honed to almost an insurance numbers, and called the authorities to lodge a FIR. We good news is that over the last two decades, there have been
exact science at companies such as Google and Facebook. commiserated with each other on the unfortunate incident and massive advances in data management, internet technologies,
wished each other safe journey on our way back home. Within two computing technologies, and machine learning, and these
This article attempts to examine certain vital elements required days, the insurance companies had figured out how the damages technologies have leveraged each other to create a perfect storm,
to advance peace and provides a sense of how data science can had to be paid for, and both parties readily accepted the decision. which makes it possible for us to attempt to solve such challenging
potentially contribute to those elements. At the same time, it lists The contrast between the two incidents could not have been problems.
caveats and external factors that need to be considered to ensure more stark. The triggers were the same, but the outcomes vastly
that the potential is realised. different, which made me wonder why that was the case.
How can data science assist?
There seemed to be at least four salient factors that could explain
Elements of peaceful conflict resolution these differences. To understand how and where data science and machine learning
• Regulatory structures that strongly discourage violence (ML) can help, let us delve deeper into the obstacles faced in
Heading home one evening in a cab, I had a close encounter • Predisposition of the population towards peaceful behaviour creating some of the factors that contribute to peace.
with mob violence. A car crashed into our vehicle, and within a • Familiarity with the resolution process of common conflicts
matter of minutes, a massive crowd of people assembled. Folks • Availability of arbiters perceived as neutral and knowledgeable Regulatory structures & policy decisions. Government
started arguing with each other, and before long, the arguments by all the parties organisations and policy think tanks have enormous
power to influence policy decisions and regulatory
devolved into a violent fight resulting in multiple people getting
injured without any resolution on handling the damages from None of the above positive factors are easy to create. Neither is mechanisms, but often do not make good choices even with
the accident. This incident took me back to a more serious this list exhaustive as there are many other aspects (e.g., inherent an abundance of good intentions. These suboptimal choices are
car accident that happened a few years ago in California. In power imbalances, malicious intent by third parties) that one needs primarily due to a lack of access to the relevant data as well as an
contrast to the episode in Bangalore, the parties involved in to consider to address the vast variety of conflicts such as domestic inability to distill the available data to perform a what-if-analysis,
the accident just pulled over, assessed the damages, exchanged violence, communal riots and territorial disputes. However, the e.g., is free public schooling till the age of 18 years likely to result
1 9
opinion
in fewer cases of domestic violence?
Data science approaches can
optimise this decision-making
process in multiple ways by:
• enabling semi-automated consolidation
of relevant data from a wide range
of heterogeneous, structured and
unstructured multi-lingual, multi-media
sources across the world,
• offering insights on temporal trends,
natural clusters, and frequent patterns to
policymakers,
• discovering associations between policy
choices and outcomes for different
contexts via analytic models learned
from the data,
• performing quick and accurate
evaluation of different policy choices via
statistical tests.
Promoting a peaceful mindset
among people. Today’s cultural
forces (e.g., social media, news
media, video games, movies)
and education systems are much
more geared towards promoting
competition, aggression, and
violence than peacefulness and
cooperation. The current state of affairs
most likely is due to the apathy on the
part of the educators and media owners
towards promoting peace. Nevertheless,
even if a positive intent could be induced
with changes in regulation, it is still
non-trivial for moderators to weed out
objectionable content and for educators
and influencers to take appropriate
actions to mold the behaviour of people
under their influence since that requires
fine-grained contextualisation.
Data-science based systems can
be quite helpful in solving some
of these challenges. In particular,
it is possible to automatically assess
different types of content (movies,
games, online posts) on the likely impact
it has on a consumer, which can then
be used to regulate the content sources.
Twitter, Facebook, and Google already
have such systems in place. Analysis of
behavioural data, combined with medical,
ISSUE • 9
Today’s cultural forces
(e.g., social media, news
media, video games,
movies) and education
systems are much
more geared towards
promoting competition,
aggression, and violence
than peacefulness and
cooperation.
demographic, environmental factors and
content consumption history, can also
pinpoint the reasons for a peaceful or
violent disposition, which can then be
used to recommend appropriate corrective
or learning actions to educators/leaders
targeted towards each individual. For
example, if a child is aggressive because
of a lack of basic needs such as food
and housing, it is preferable to focus on
addressing those issues than inundating
her/him with messages on peacefulness.
Familiarity with common resolution
mechanisms. A common cause for
avoidable violence is ignorance of
resolution mechanisms for everyday
conflicts, e.g., domestic abuse of women
by their spouses, communal riots,
economic exploitation of tribal and
rural people by others. This observation
is particularly true for the poor and
under-educated parts of the population.
ML - based personalised content
recommendation systems that can
offer content on conflict resolution
processes tailored to a person’s
situation, in the language and
media of his/her choice can go
a long way in addressing this
problem. One can also create engaging
role-playing games powered by ML
algorithms that can simulate typical
conflict scenarios and train the players on
navigating such situations in real world.
Neutral, knowledgeable and
effective arbiters. Resolution of
conflicts is often tricky in the absence of
a neutral, knowledgeable arbiter. In most
conflicts, it is not only the neutrality that is
in question; the sheer volume of disputes
makes even the number of available
arbiters extremely low. Automated ML
agents by design do not have a bias
specific to a particular situation and are
more likely to be neutral and perceived
as such. It is also a scalable option to
deploy automated agents directly or as
assistants to humans to enable thoughtful
and timely resolution of conflicts. There
is, in fact, ongoing work on using
ML models to assist judges in
coming up with objective and fair
judgments. Specialised ML systems are
also being used to evaluate the truth of
objective claims from different sources
based on the raw evidence, which can
help in resolving differences.
The above ideas on applications of data
science for peaceful conflict resolution are
just the tip of the iceberg, and there are
possibly many more.
Caveats on the limits of
data science
Intelligent ML-based systems such as
Google search, Facebook feeds, Amazon
product recommendations and Uber
have become an integral part of our lives,
but most of us do not yet have a good
understanding of how data science and
ML work. Misconceptions around data
science make it seem like either like a
“panacea” or an “out-of-control beast”,
leading to all kinds of absurd headlines
full of hype or fear. The reality is far
different, and it is essential to understand
this to ensure appropriate and effective
use of data science.
The core of data science is machine
learning, which comprises techniques
that enable machines to learn from data
without being explicitly programmed.
These techniques are different from the
older generation AI methods such as rule-
based systems that had to be explicitly
programmed by experts. In fact, ML methods have more in
OPINION
common with the way humans learn. For example, consider how
a child learns. To him/her, it is important to determine if a new
person is friendly or hostile. The learning process involves making
multiple observations over time on people’s attributes such as the
tone of voice, facial expressions, and creating a mental model of
hostile vs. friendly, which can be then be employed to characterize
a new person.
Machine learning operates similarly and involves three key
elements.
• Explicit representation of all the relevant information, e.g., the
tone of voice, as variables in a mathematical framework
• Collection of empirical observations on the variables
• Learning algorithms to infer associations between variables using
the gathered data.
The benefits of data science methods relative to manual judgment
stem from their ability to effortlessly handle trade-offs among
multiple possibly conflicting signals, incorporate massive amounts
of data, and contextualise predictions for fine-grained contexts.
However, one must be extremely mindful of the fact that ML are being aggressively deployed in these ecosystems but primarily
techniques have a heavy dependence on data and do not have to optimise business metrics, which are not necessarily aligned
any innate ability to generate predictions. In particular, the most towards creating a peaceful society. How much ever governmental
commonly used class of ML methods, i.e., supervised learning and inter-governmental organisations attempt to promote peace,
methods, need adequately labelled data to first learn what they are
expected to predict, e.g. if we want to rate content as peaceful or
violent, we first need sufficient training examples of peaceful and
Like any other powerful technology, data
violent content. Furthermore, the applicability of an ML model
is often limited to data distribution it is trained on, e.g., models science is a sharp double-edged sword that
trained on the US population might or might not generalize to can cut both ways.
a different community. If it turns out that data used to build ML
models is biased or noisy, then the predictions of the resulting
models are also likely to be biased and erroneous. these efforts are likely to be subverted by these highly influential
ecosystems. It is critical to impose well-thought-out content
standards and regulatory mechanisms that make it economically
External regulatory factors needed for profitable for these privately-owned ecosystems to promote peace.
success
Like any other powerful technology, data science is Summing up
a sharp double-edged sword that can cut both ways.
Consolidation of data not only unlocks valuable insights but To conclude, data science has the potential to make immense
also poses enormous risks if it falls into the hands of malicious contributions to the pursuit of peace. Providing macro-level
players. It is imperative, therefore, to carefully formulate policies insights to policymakers, curating personalised content on peaceful
that safeguard against privacy breaches and potential misuse, and conflict resolution, guiding educators in molding the behaviour of
ensure strict compliance. The GDPR regulation is a commendable their wards and automated agents for arbitration are some of the
effort in this direction, but more work remains to be done. many ways that data science can assist in promoting peace. There
are, of course, caveats on the applicability of data science and risks
There is considerable evidence to demonstrate that of privacy breaches that should be taken into consideration. Most
privately-owned information ecosystems such as search importantly, it is essential to harness the capitalistic
engines, social media networks and news media, driven forces of the world towards the pursuit of peace.
by engagement-drive business metrics, are resulting in
increasingly polarised communities. Data science methods
2 1
opinion
Declaration of
Independence II
DAN SHEFET
Dan Shefet: Lawyer at the Paris Court of Appeal
(France)
Dan Shefet is a frequent speaker at international
conferences and academic venues on IT Law, Data
Privacy Content Regulation and Human Rights on
the Internet. In 2014, he founded the Association
for Accountability and Internet Democracy (AAID),
the main objective of which is to introduce a general
principle of accountability on the internet.
ISSUE • 9
OPINION
Data Subjects of all countries unite !
We were promised ultimate freedom and liberty and instead we have
become serfs of new masters.
Your tyranny has overshadowed and transcended that of
government- yet you are not elected.
You have highjacked our space, our freedom and our sovereignty.
You have no moral right to rule us or possess us.
You are not welcome among us.
You do not answer to democracy, but you will have to answer to
us, the People.
Your arrogance and indifference to human tragedy, your abuse
and avid concentration of power and hegemony disqualify you
from the role you have usurped.
You have transformed our dreams and promises of decentralised
freedom into a centralised nightmare.
Under the pretext of saving the world you fill your coffers
without contributing to society.
You yield before no manipulation.
You have degraded us to products in your realm. Products that
deserve no respect.
Governments cannot and will not stop you, but we the People will.
We will boycott your services. We will take our clicks away from
you and your empire will crumble.
You have no right to make judgments affecting life and death.
We no longer trust you.
What you fear most is our passion. What you lack most is
compassion.
are intolerable. monitor all of your new “technology” whether developed in-house
Privacy is not dead. Get over it. or acquired and in particular those technologies that apply to
You will allow Data Subjects all over the world to take artificial intelligence.
Now, here are our demands: control of their own data and immediately heed their You will refrain from further abuse of your dominant position
demands for deletion and de-referencing. destroying any alternative to your « services » and consolidating
You will give us back control over our lives.
You will not anoint yourself to be the judge over the your power even more.
We will only allow you to co-exist with us if you accept that with
appropriateness of such demands.
power comes obligations and that your disregard of ethics and
You will allow public inspection to verify that these demands This time we will create a true civilization of the Mind in
social responsibility will cease.
have been met and that data has been definitely and permanently Cyberspace.
You are not above the law and your failure to assume your
erased from your gigantic data troves - because we do not trust May it be more humane and fair than the world you have made.
obligations and contribute towards society are shameful.
you.
Your abuse of your overwhelmingly dominant position and your
Paris, France
failure to take ethics into account when developing, or rather,
You will create an ethics board with independent experts who will August 3, 2018
acquiring new technology and services (you develop little yourself)
Dan Shefet
2 3
opinion

Dreams and Reality:

OPINION
How AI will Change
Education
H arri K etamo , founder of H eadai , senior fellow in U niversity of T urku

Because AI will change everything, it

is said that AI will change the way we
learn. This couldn’t be a more misleading
statement.

What is learning as a phenomenon

The way people learn is an outcome of millions of years of

Harri Ketamo, Ph.D. is an entrepreneur with 20
years experience in learning sciences and artificial
intelligence as science and as business. Currently
he is founder & chairman of Headai, a jobTech
company solving global talent mismatch and
workforce re-skilling challenges with AI. He’s
also actively participating in academic research
as an adjunct professor at Tampere University of
Technology and as a senior fellow at University of
Turku. Previously he has been founder & CEO of
gameMiner (game AI that learn from players), xTask
(adaptive learning platform for mobile devices) and
SkillPixels (elementary school as a mobile game).
Ketamo was awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship in
2017.
evolution and it cannot be changed with technology. In short,
we learn through interaction by observing the world around
us i.e. we make observations, conceptualise our observations
and connect them into our existing understanding. When we
connect observations we have made before, we just strengthen
our current understanding. When adding new observations, we
learn. When we make observations that don’t fit into our existing
understanding, we might end up learning and at the same time
changing our understanding radically.
In science, the learning process is studied at the for example
chemistry level, biological level, neural cell level, social level
and psychological level. All science supports this generalised
definition of learning, no matter if we call it conceptual learning,
constructivism or connectivism. Claims that AI will change the
way we learn is just like a claim that television will change the
way we learn. Every ten years, there have been technologies that
have claimed to change the way learning happens. Games (2010),
mobile devices (2000), Internet (1990), CD-rom (1980), television
(1970), programmed instruction (1960), radio (1950) and spirit
duplicators (1930), just to mention a few.
We dream that technology would make learning fast and easy, but
that’s an illusion.
However, all technologies, including artificial intelligence,
have changed our abilities to make observations of the world.
Furthermore, technologies have enabled a remarkable change
in education and teaching. Radio brought access to good quality
educational content for millions. Internet provided access to a
lot of information, readily available for learners. A decade later,
there was no need to just deliver information in schools – new
pedagogical innovations were developed. The Learning process,
however, remained the same: we yet connected our observations
into our mental understanding. Learning is hard work, but we
can make it more enjoyable, accessible and effective with good
pedagogy. Technology alone is never the answer.
Coming back to Artificial Intelligence (AI)
We should not spend too much time on defining what AI is.
All machine performed activities that would require conscious
thinking also from people, can be called Artificial Intelligence. AI
is not dependent on which algorithms or technological frameworks
are used.
Furthermore, AI is old. As a science, it comes from the 50’s and it
has been with us for more than 60 years. The first generation AIs
were decision trees and state machines, based on programmed
rules. In many solutions, the rules were based on scientific work
and millions of lines of data, but the rules were programmed
after people found the rules. In second generation AI, there are
no pre-programmed rules and machines would learn the rules
from the given data. In other words, the rules with which AI works
are not programmed, they are (machine) learned. There are
excellent use cases for both types of AI, for some cases
programmed rules are perfect, because they are fast to
perform, e.g. spell checking. Some other cases require
machine learning because of the complexity of the case,
e.g. speech recognition. The third generation is going to

2 5
ISSUE • 9
opinion
be about extending the concept of machine learning. i.e.
teaching machines case by case with natural language.
AI can be used as an assistant for people, as a closely managed
worker or as an autonomous system. In many cases, we use AI
in the form of a co-worker, letting it to do easy, boring, dirty or
dangerous tasks. Assisting AI performs numerous supporting tasks
for professionals and so enabling them to focus on higher order
thinking. Currently, there are very limited number of autonomous
Alongside AI ethics, we should discuss
data ethics: who is allowed to collect data,
who owns the data, is the data real and
valid, what are biases in the data, what is
the role of manipulation, and so on.
AIs in use, however, when we refer to AI, we tend to think
autonomous AI. It is important to note that the ethical discussion
around AI is very different if we talk about autonomous systems
or systems that provide assistance by performing routine tasks.
Alongside AI ethics, we should discuss data ethics: who
is allowed to collect data, who owns the data, is the data
real and valid, what are biases in the data, what is the
role of manipulation, and so on. We have to accept we can
not talk AI as an isolated system, it is always connected to other
technologies and processes.
And how AI will change education
There is nothing new in applying AI to learning. In 1912, Edward
Thorndike introduced his idea about The Learning Machine. The
machine could ask questions of the learner and suggest further
readings, if required. Because there were no modern computers
invented at that point, The Learning Machine applied punch
cards to run Adaptive Learning features 100 years before the
concept of Adaptive Learning became popular in practice.
Adaptive learning applies computational methods that fit into the
AI-family, and so we can call it AI. There are also two generations
of adaptive learning. Prior to the 1990s, adaptive learning was
based on rules found in scientific research and then programmed
into machines. Post the 90’s, real-time data was used in order to
provide highly individual learning experiences for the learner and
detailed learning analytics. This required other technologies
like fast internet, big memories, own devices and
computation power to support AI.
There are parallel opportunities to apply AI in several educational
tasks to either improve or speed up the process. However, the
ISSUE • 9
power of AI is not in improving old process, we have to rethink the
processes.
If we want to understand the major opportunities related to AI,
we have to focus on one of the biggest global challenges we face in
education: We don’t have enough teachers to provide education for
everyone. This is critical in elementary education, but remarkable
also in vocational training, higher education and lifelong learning.
In early years of education, such as elementary education and
primary education, the human teacher cannot be replaced. No
way. Soft skills and transferrable skills such as critical thinking,
problem solving, team work and communication needs interaction
with people. However, we can provide AI-based teaching assistants
and helpers for teachers and so enable teachers to work with
bigger groups. This, however, requires AI-pedagogy, which we
don’t have it yet. We need to invest a lot in pedagogical research
in order to understand the full potential of AI to elementary
education.
In lifelong learning, work place training and professional
development, the key factor is to understand what skills are needed
in the labour markets now and in the future. Although there is
research being undertaken, big data is not being applied and
micro-skills are not being focused upon because there is too much
data and complexity for people.
For a couple of years, we have had AI assistance that reads
through terabytes of job openings, curriculums, future forecast
reports and labor market analysis, to build a real time research
report on skills seeking. We could do this also with people, if we
just could have millions of people to do this work.
AI can build parallel models on an individual’s skills at micro
level, it can easily show an individualised career path: direct jobs
with person’s current skills as well as low-hanging jobs that are
accessible after person gets couple of identified skills. Furthermore,
when AI knows the curriculums, it can also reveal educational
opportunities relevant for individual.
When the skill gap is recognised, AI can construct tests and
curate content packages for the individual. In other words, AI
can produce online courses from identified skills and so bring
vocational training and lifelong learning for billions of learners.
Finally, AI won’t change the way we learn, but it can change the
access to education, globally. Download #YouthWagingPeace now.
Also available, Action Guidelines for Prevention of Violent Extremism (English and French versions)
Details, visit : http://mgiep.unesco.org/youth-waging-peace
International Youth Campaign
1

on Kindness for the SDGs

About
2
The UNESCO MGIEP has initiated the International Youth Campaign on Kindness for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The purpose of this Campaign is to mobilise the world’s youth to achieve the 17 SDGs through transformative acts of kindness. The
overall goals of the campaign are to:

• Create a positive culture of kindness where a person’s selfless act matters and to show how it can make a difference to the SDGs

• Provide a comprehensive, independent, fun and engaging pathway for youth to demonstrate how an act of kindness is a non-trivial
task and that being kind is “cool”

BE A PART OF THIS 1. Bhubaneshwar City, India: SDG 9: Innovation, Industry and Infrastructure

CAMPAIGN NOW!
FOR DETAILS, VISIT
http://mgiep.unesco.org/kindness
2 & 3. Kolkata City, India: SDG 4: Quality Education: An educational session at two NGO
4. Lucknow City, India: SDG 2: Zero Hunger
5. Kolkata City, India: SDG 4: Quality Education: An educational session at two NGO’s
6. Lucknow City, India: SDG 2: Zero Hunger: Food distribution among the underprivileged in
Lucknow (in collaboration with the Robin Hood Army)
2 9
cover
story
B
outique or personalised
learning is the final
frontier of a successful
education system.
Recent research in neuroscience has
demonstrated that each brain is ‘wired
uniquely’ and thus ‘learns differently’.
Thus far, education systems have focused
on curricula geared towards producing a
workforce for mass industrial deployment
and have implemented the ‘one size fits
all’ approach. Unfortunately, this has led
to the following undesirable results:
(1) Many individuals trained but unable to
Personalising ‘Learning’ -
adapt to changing job requirements,
(2) Little consideration for natural talent,
thereby killing creativity,
(3) Little or no love for learning,
Can AI Promise
(4) Unhappy, frustrated youth.
Consequently, the current education
systems finds itself broken, insufficient
Customised Education
and ineffective at meeting the demands of
the 21st century.
For education to provide holistic
For ‘Humanity’
development to children, it is urgent and
necessary that learning become a fun
The resurgence of
N andini C hatterjee S ingh Artificial Intelligence or
Programme Specialist - Science Of Learning, Unesco Mgiep AI, however, offers a ray
R auna k J ain of hope in achieving such
Former Consultant, UNESCO MGIEP a ‘personalised learning
system
ISSUE • 9
COVER STORY
and enjoyable experience. It should allow
children to learn at their own pace, it
should do so in ways that address their
various strengths and weaknesses, and
most importantly, it should prepare them
to realise their full potential. For this
to happen, learning needs to become
‘personal’. While the premise is exciting
and promising, such a personalised
learning system has seemed utopian thus
far.
The resurgence of Artificial
Intelligence or AI, however, offers
a ray of hope in achieving such a
‘personalised learning system’. In
order to understand how AI can make
this possible, we will give an overview of
AI, how it has resurfaced, examples of its
application, followed by how we expect AI
to facilitate ‘personalised learning’.
What is AI ?
The term Artificial Intelligence or
AI was coined by John McCarthy in
1956, two years after the untimely
death of Alan Turing, who came
to be known as the father of AI. In
1950, at a time when the first general-
purpose computers were being built,
Turing was already grappling with the
question “Can machines think?” He
developed a hypothetical machine,
called a Turing machine, for encrypting
codes built to test and define Machine
Intelligence and thus refers to computer
programs that exhibit human-like
3 1
COVER STORY
intelligence such as logical reasoning,
problem solving and 1learning.
The Turing machine was able to
implement algorithms that could mimic
the process of basic human decision-
making. A number of algorithms were
developed and some of them were
implemented successfully in cracking
secret codes during the war; however,
many algorithms remain untested due to
the limitations of computing capabilities.
With recent advances in both computing
power and algorithmic efficiency, AI
gained traction. This trend is expected to
accelerate as new computing technologies
such as neural processors and quantum
computing achieve stability and maturity.
AI technology is projected to dramatically
ISSUE • 9
change the types of tasks performed
by humans and those performed by
machines. As a consequence, AI has
caught the imagination of not only
technologists and entrepreneurs, but
also educationists and policy makers. AI
is unique in being a generic umbrella
technology that can enable many different
disruptive technologies and solutions.
Creating a Framework for
AI
The conception of an AI system indicates
that it should possess the ability to interact
with the real world. To understand AI’s
progress thus far, we will elaborate on the
four dimensions identified by DARPA
(2 Defence Advanced Research Projects
2
https://www.darpa.mil/about-us/darpa-perspective-on-ai
3
https://www.iata.org/publications/Documents/AI-White-Paper.pdf
Agency) to understand the evolution of
AI. Based on this, intelligence may be
broadly be 3 described.
• Perception – The ability to use
sensory systems and language to obtain
information about the natural world
• Problem analysis – The ability to process
the information obtained above in order
to identify a problem, analyse it and
provide a solution
• Abstract knowledge – The ability to
abstract knowledge from perception in
one domain and apply it to another
• Experiential learning – The ability
to continually learn from real-world
data patterns and refine perception and
1
http://cpsc.yale.edu/research/artificial-intelligence
knowledge
Next, we will review the evolution of AI
systems within the framework described
above. A historical review of the evolution
of AI systems reveals that they appear to
have followed a different process – one
that has been driven by algorithm and
technology development. Based on their
capabilities, developed AI systems have
been categorised in distinct generations.
Gen 1 AI – Rule-driven
Learning
The first generation of AI programmes
described knowledge through the
definition of static rules. One of the
earliest programmes in this series was
designed to played chess. Computer
systems used a set of defined rules to play
chess with humans and their algorithms
became so good that the systems even
beat humans. Such systems offered limited
perception of the outside world, namely
that of the chessboard.
Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
are a second example of first-
generation AI. They demonstrate
the ability to identify location,
analyse and contextualise it on a
map, and provide solutions in the
form of directions. GPS systems
possess very limited abilities to cope
with deviations from the routine, yet
their presence and utility in our daily
lives cannot be denied or ignored.
When viewed through the dimensions
of intelligence described above, first-
generation AI systems are only capable
of using ‘problem analysis’ for limited
applications of the outside world. For
instance, users of Google Maps will know
that based on a set of pre-defined rules, a
map prescribes a specific route. However,
based on their experience, a driver may
take a different route each day, while the
application is unable to learn the route
taken by the driver. Thus, while first-
generation AI computer programs possess
great capabilities and are constantly being
deployed in many industries for the value
that they provide, they are capable of only
COVER STORY
implementing rules and are unable to
learn from patterns and implement new Categories of
trajectories or outputs.
Artificial Intelligence
Gen 2 AI – Data-driven
Learning
The next big leap in AI systems happened
with the advent of Big Data. For a
long time, access to limited data, which
was isolated and held in data cocoons,
prevented AI from being tested or
implemented in demographic settings.
Recent advances in data collection Gen 1 AI –
Rule Driven Learning
and assimilation techniques have made
The first generation of AI programs that were
available to us enormous amounts of developed incorporated computer programs that
described knowledge through the definition of
data, which is analysed using advanced
static rules. One of the earliest in this series, was
data analytics methods – this entire the development of computer programs that
played chess. Such systems offered limited
process is referred to as Big Data. Further,
perception of the outside world, namely that of
the migration from regular CPUs to the chessboard.
extremely powerful computing devices
has enabled the development of parallel
intelligence engines. AI programmes have
leveraged this to great advantage; for
instance, novel transformative algorithms
are now available to identify clusters
and patterns in datasets. Often, patterns
not visible to humans can be located
using such algorithms, sometimes even
through trial and error. Thus, training
Gen 2 AI –
a system using Big Data has made a Data Driven Learning
huge impact on utilising the power of The next big leap in AI systems happened with
‘pattern recognition’. However, it is brittle the collection and availability of BigData. For a
long time, access to small limited data, which
– it breaks as soon as soon the data set was isolated and held in data cocoons, prevented
changes. AI from being tested or implemented in
population settings
One example of second-generation AI’s
implementation is Microsoft’s Twitter
Bot 9 and the controversy surrounding it.
Popularly named Tay, this teen-talking AI
chatbot was built to mimic and converse
with users in real time; it was released via
Twitter in 2016. As it began to converse
with users, some people took advantage
of Tay’s machine learning capabilities
and began to teach it racist and offensive Gen 3 AI –
language. As a consequence, the bot Context Driven Learning
began to post offensive tweets through its Building from the earlier paragraph, it this
therefore quite clear that the primary focus of
Twitter account, forcing Microsoft to shut 3rd Gen AI is to build and incorporate algorithms
down the service only 16 hours after its that understand context and implement an
analytical path to decide response.
launch.
3 3
COVER STORY
While the incorporation of Big Data
offers tremendous promise and is exciting,
second-generation AI lacks the power of
logical reasoning, understanding context
and abstracting knowledge to different
domains. Human beings learn in multiple
ways – through experience, patterns,
and imitation – to list a few. Clearly,
such ideas needed to be translated to
algorithms and incorporated in third-
generation AI.
Gen 3 AI – Context-driven
Analysis
Building upon our argument, it is quite
clear that the primary focus of Gen 3 AI
is to build and incorporate algorithms
that understand context and implement
an analytical path to decide response. As
discussed earlier, the data sets on which AI
systems are trained are brittle. Thus, the
Gen 2 AI is only as good as its data set it is
trained on and is incapable of recognising
right from wrong. For instance, as seen
in the case of Tay, when the bot was
provided new patterns by Twitter users,
it learnt new patterns, not realising that
these were inappropriate patterns or even
different from what it was taught earlier.
This brings to the fore the value of logical
reasoning and analysis in AI systems.
The second aspect that Gen 3 AI needs
to incorporate is recognising patterns
across domains and abstractions. Humans
beings’ ability to not only recognise
patterns but abstract knowledge
such that it can be used in different
settings is incredibly powerful and
is learnt and accomplished without too
much data and quite early in life. One
simple example is our ability to recognise
handwriting, which varies hugely among
people. Yet, the human brain is capable
of recognising a word written in various
ways. One faculty that the human brain
uses here is the understanding of context,
which is a vital aspect the way we make
decisions. For AI systems to be more
effective, it is important that they be
able to take decisions based on context.
If third-generation AI is to be effective,
ISSUE • 9
it would need to understand context
and have the capability to go from one
domain to another; abstracting knowledge
and learning. Thus, the possibility of a
system or machine understanding the
context of its environment, and learning
and adapting based on changes in that
environment, is possibly the next frontier
of AI.
The Role of AI in Education
To understand the role of AI
in education, we must first
understand the concepts that make
education systems successful,
which will then help us understand
how AI can add value to each
component in the system. The two
primary components of any education
system are the student and the teacher.
An ideal education system should provide
content that is contextually relevant,
technically sound, and emotionally
rewarding to ensure that students acquires
skills and continue to remain motivated
to 4 learn. This can be achieved if they
are provided an educational experience
that is immersive, multi-sensory, paced
appropriately, and rewarding.
For teachers to effectively
implement good teaching practices,
education also needs to be engaging
and fun, and most importantly,
allow the teacher to continuously
measure learning and receive
transparent feedback.
Artificial Intelligence embedded in
digital learning ecosystems presents
the possibility of achieving both of the
above in a measurable and scientific
manner. It is the theoretical basis on
which personalised learning and analytics
work to enable richer understanding
of learning data and improve learning
effectiveness at scale.
The integration of AI into learning
systems is possible because of digitisation.
Here, digitisation refers to the constant
interaction of the individual with the
4
https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/solutions/industries/docs/education/Multimodal-Learning-Through-Media.pdf
COVER STORY
To understand the role of AI
in education, we first have
to understand the concepts
which make education
systems successful, which
will then help us understand
how AI can add value to
each component in the
system.
machine during learning, which makes it
possible for us to collect data on decision
making. This data would be supremely
valuable to understand students’ learning
patterns, types and pace, which in turn
could be used to build and train AI
systems.
Imagine a digital platform presented to
children as an interface where they can
speak, touch and visualise information,
and engage with it. This information
can be provided in visual or auditory
modes, or even as a short movie. Using
the powerful modality of a story, children
can be engaged in a learning experience
footprint that can be used to profile every user. Central to this We have not yet determined all the skills that today’s pre-schoolers
that requires interaction with a digital
digital curriculum would be the inclusion of skills that emphasise will need in the workplace of 2030. We are hopeful, however,
platform. The story itself is delivered in
compassion, collaboration and co-operation among fellow that such interactive platforms will cater to individual needs and
a format that immerses children in an
experience where they respond, interact, participants, so that children build emotional intelligence along provide ‘personalised learning’ to develop skill sets that will allow
with intellectual intelligence. every child an equal opportunity to realise their full potential.
think critically and take decisions towards
specific outcomes, while their interactions
For the teacher, this technology would facilitate intelligent tutoring.
are recorded as a digital transaction.
The teacher would be able to analyse each child’s learning path
and actively generate/select content that intervenes to improve
Navigating through this story would
weaknesses, and design well-informed strategies that can be tested
require children to assume a different
and improved in a self-learning environment.
identity – a common aspect of gaming
– and then make a choice. Throughout
Over a period of time, the learning patterns and teacher
this process, children are provided
interventions would begin to contribute to a collective intelligence,
information and learn, making both
both from student and teacher, and then be automated by AI to
intellectual and emotional decisions, and
multiple languages that would be available across classrooms.
constantly questioning and reflecting on
Here, children would also benefit from the best pedagogical
the situations presented in the story. Such
practices that would have been gleaned from multiple teachers. AI
a process would not only allow them to
would also have learnt patterns from the collective intelligence and
learn in a fun and engaging manner but
thus the data set being brittle would cease to be a concern.
also permit continuous assessment of the
different skills that need to be acquired.
The digital transactions that learners Such a platform has been built by the UNESCO MGIEP, titled
CHI (Collective Human Intelligence - chi.buzz). This learning
would undertake on such a platform
platform will provide a safe learning environment for learners and
–from conversations to assessment
its first version was launched at TECH 2018.
exercises to games – would have a digital
3 5
 F EAT U RE ARTIC L E
F EAT U RE
ARTIC L E

CHI – A Knowledge
Sharing Digital Platform
Powered by Machine
Learning
R oy S aura b h , C hief T echnology O fficer , U N E S C O M G I E P
Roy Saurabh has over 13 years global experience in Technology & Strategy
Consulting. Roy has a proven track record in large-scale project management,
Entrepreneurship, and Technology Consulting. Previously, he was the Head of
Technology for the National Skill Development Mission, impacting more than 3
million lives, Director for Oracle’s leading Europe Partner, Cedar Consulting UK,
and Founder/CEO of Zosher. Roy has in-depth knowledge of different client/server
architectures based on various frameworks, data visualisation tools, classification
& regression models and other popular as well as advanced Artificial Intelligence
/ NLP and Machine Learning algorithms.
F E AT U R E A R T I C L E
With this acknowledgment, we tried to leverage the strengths
• Ownership of the data generated by existing platforms solely lies
of both the research fields of AI and the Neurosciences in our
in the hands of for-profit organisations, depriving the world of the
conceptualisation process to work towards helping leaners Learn.
invaluable data insights that could help take corrective measures
for the betterment of the world.
UNESCO MGIEP’s work in the field of Differential Learning
and rich data sets that have been curated for advanced model
These limitations, when thought of in the context of education
training with years of education related legacy data, has helped
us organically draw learnings from one field to the other. One
and learning outcomes, become even more critical because of the
dynamic nature of today’s education ecosystem. Since, we are
of the major learnings of such a brainstorming session led to
trying to prepare learners for such dynamic environments; creating
the inception of a unique knowledge sharing platform, titled
engaging learner tools. In many ways, this puts into practice
Collective Human Intelligence <codename: CHI> (We prefer the
Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences pedagogical framework
Greek pronunciation /kaɪ to the Kung Fu Panda3 version).
[4].
CHI, quite simply, is an AI-powered digital platform
that helps extract learnings from tasks that AI does well,
to help teach and consequently learn. CHI helps curriculum
designers, policy makers, content developers, teachers and students

A
rtificial Intelligence (AI) and the
Neurosciences have been interlinked since the
time the field of AI was at a nascent stage.
Parallels were drawn between artificial
intelligence and human intelligence, as early as 1956, in
a workshop held on the campus of Dartmouth College [1]. Many
of the early pioneers straddled both fields, with collaborations
between the disciplines of neuroscience and artificial intelligence
proving to be highly productive (Churchland and Sejnowski, 1988,
Hebb, 1949, Hinton et al., 1986, Hopfield, 1982, McCulloch
and Pitts, 1943, Turing, 1950) [2]. Whether it is Neural Network,
Reinforcement Learning or the Machine Learning training
models, data scientists always have had a superior human
intelligence counterpart to refer to while envisioning or drawing
inspiration for AI models.
What makes this co-existence exciting is that both fields
have some highly specialised ‘knowns’ and ‘unknowns’.
When we talk about blind spots in the neurosciences, a basic
in-depth understanding of creativity, imagination, dreams
and consciousness is still lacking. As a recent DARPA project
study[3] indicates, while AI has taken strides in some super
specialised pockets, basic human common sense is absent in
at least the current applications of AI across various fields.
rethink how knowledge and intelligence can be imparted in
the 21st century. Central to the design and development of the
platform was the question ‘how learners learn’.
Before delving into the technical vision and features of CHI,
understanding the ‘WHY’ behind the development of CHI is
When the reasons became compelling enough, the technology
critical. The two factors that fueled CHI’s conceptualisation were:
requirements and long-term vision began taking shape. CHI uses
the latest innovative technology to ensure maximum
• Limitations that the current content creation mainstream
engagement of creators and learners as well as provide
platforms present, both in the form of content design tools/
deep insights from the crowdsourced learner & creator
content delivery modes and the limited data insights that existing
datasets. The scale of the impact and the number of data points
platforms provide for the creator community.
per platform-registered user are a dream for any Technology team

3 7
ISSUE • 9
F EAT U RE ARTIC L E
trying to do something meaningful with Artificial Intelligence
(Deep Learning in particular). With rich Datasets to train on,
the key features that we are setting out within CHI are Machine
Translation [5], Sequence Tagging, Sentiment & Emotion
Analysis, Recommendation Engine and Handwriting Recognition.
These features, when implemented in conjunction with learner-
centric platform design, would slowly start to unleash the power
of technology in the educational context. The platform, in the
first phase, tries to solve real issues that are left unaddressed in the
legacy platforms from both learners’ & creators’ perspectives.
From the content creator’s point of view, CHI offers rich
content creation abilities, including embedding audio,
rich text, video, journaling, games (developed using
Unity/Phaser) to name a few. The platform framework
design has been made extremely intuitive and powerful to help
significantly reduce creators’ learning curve. Creators are further
armed with real-time emotional analysis insights related to course
reviews, discussions and facilitated dialogues. These insights help
creators identify the temotion shift on pertinent topics and identify
influencers by studying context-specific trends. Further, with a
powerful character recognition feature, CHI helps content creators
in uploading and transcribing offline legacy content, thus reducing
the data entry effort drastically. Finally, advanced analytics helps
creators be mindful of what is working and what is not in terms
of the learning outcomes of the respective courses. Creators
have the ability to ‘create’ customised learner-centric courses by
personalising features such as the layout of the learning blocks
or button design. Simultaneously, they have access to advanced
analytics such as student dropout rate and time spent on lessons,
modules or the courses. Predictive analytics within CHI can
potentially help creators take pro-active actions, especially in the
case of at-risk learners who may be on the verge of dropping out.
We hope that these power-packed features of CHI are leveraged
at scale, helping embed global best practices for future content
creators.
The real strength of CHI, however, lies with the various features
available for learners; the development of CHI was conceptualised
with learners at the center. Learners experience a guided yet
flexible and a highly personalised learning environment. Every
interaction on the platform is utilised as a way to learn more about
the learning habits of the learner to help achieve the learning
outcomes using the best available digital pedagogical learning
mode within CHI.
Further, deeply embedded analytics and user behaviour indicators
of learners as well as collaborative-based recommendation
engines help in providing recommendations of the most suitable
learning resources available from the CHI repository for learners,
in areas where they need maximum support. Learners have an
opportunity to experience the immersive courses in the form
that they are most accustomed to or adept at, without diluting
the course’s learning outcomes. With contextual metadata, CHI
ISSUE • 9
facilitates instant feedback, review as well as AI powered help
facilitating trial & error learning in a judgement-free environment.
CHI leverages AI for adapting to the pace of learning and can
consistently offer more complex tasks suited to the pace of the
learners, making learning completely non-linear. Finally, learners
are provided an opportunity to experience unique content (such
as course material on SEL developed by UNESCO MGIEP) that
would be exclusive to CHI.
We acknowledge that the sheer mention of Artificial Intelligence
or AI in various fields invokes mixed reactions and feelings. Some
see automation in general and AI in particular as a threat to
current and future jobs. Few subscribe to even more extreme views
quoting Elon Musk’s dire warning about AI[6] in every context
that even vaguely mentions automation. Then there are some, who
are downright excited about AI as the long-awaited game changer
that is bound to make us more human by automating everything
else that doesn’t fit the definition of our innate ‘humanness’. At the
end of the day, it does not matter which end of the spectrum you
fall under on the topic of AI, one thing that no one cannot deny
is that Artificial Intelligence has already made its way in almost all
sectors. Therefore, in our view, one of the first things that requires
our immediate attention is the role of digital technology in field
of education. While for most of us, our education systems did not
or could not prepare us for the Fourth Industrial Revolution or
what we would prefer to call as the First Intelligence Revolution, it
would be remiss for us to make the same mistake by not preparing
our future generations for a change that is imminent.
With so much to offer to all stakeholders, the long-term vision
requires patronage from the Application Development community.
CHI reach its true potential only when supported by a global
community of learners, content developers and application
developers. We believe that a community committed to learning
will ensure CHI stays true to that vision; embedded in that vision
is a truly open-source, community-supported platform that gains
from the Collective Human Intelligence. It is no doubt a grand
experiment but one that needs to be explored and implemented if
we truly believe in transforming education for humanity!
References
[1] https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d486/9863b5da0fa4ff-
5707fa972c6e1dc92474f6.pdf
[2] https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(17)30509-
3
[3] https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/11/darpa-wants-to-teach-
and-test-common-sense-for-ai/
[4] https://www.niu.edu/facdev/_pdf/guide/learning/howard_
gardner_theory_multiple_intelligences.pdf
[5] https://arxiv.org/pdf/1808.03867.pdf
[6] https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/13/elon-musk-at-sxsw-a-i-is-
more-dangerous-than-nuclear-weapons.html
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i n t e rv i ew

can also be of immense help in areas such as teacher performance AI can also facilitate experiential learning by simulating study tours,

Interview with
analysis and teacher placements. In higher education, data science
can help in student on-boarding, curriculum design and student
lifecycle management.
INTERVIEW
which are typically only undertaken by students living in urban
areas. Videos, augmented reality and virtual reality can make this
happen, for instance, by simulating historic monuments, landforms,
motor mechanics, and more.

Dr. Avik Sarkar, 3. What do you perceive as threats of AI in

education / how can these be addressed? 6. What is the current landscape of AI and
education in India in terms of the no. of companies

Head – Data Analytics Cell Teachers are the most important factor in ensuring the success of
education. The most successful universities are the ones with the
best teachers. In the context of schools, the countries with the best
/ institutions working on this?

Several e-learning platforms are gaining popularity in India.

at NITI Aayog, Govt. of India

educational outcomes have a rigorous process to select teachers and
reward them for imparting quality education. Replacing teachers
with AI-based adaptive learning robots could lead to low learning
outcomes in students. The education sector should be wary of
replacing teachers; instead, it should use AI to complement
teachers’ efforts in imparting quality education.
An Interview with Akriti Mehra
There is a huge opportunity for these e-learning platforms to
help fill students’ learning gaps by explaining concepts in a
simplified manner through the use of digital technologies. The
Government of India has also launched its e-learning platform to
enhance the learning process for students.

7. What are some of the limitations / challenges that

Dr Avik Sarkar is an Officer on Special Duty at NITI Aayog, a premier policy think-
tank of the Government of India. Dr Sarkar is heading the Data Analytics Cell at NITI
Aayog, developing a roadmap for the use of data, analytics, and AI for governance,
policy-making and inclusive growth in India. Dr Sarkar has over 17 years of experience
across different aspects of data analytics, statistical modeling, data/text mining across
companies such as IBM, Accenture, Nokia, NASA, Persistent Systems, Zycus, etc.
He has been nominated among the “Top 10 Data Scientists in India” in 2017 by the
Analytics India Magazine.
1. How will AI impact the future of education? 2. How can AI, big data and data science be used
effectively in education?
Artificial Intelligence or AI provides predictions on new scenarios
based on learnings from large volumes of historical data. We have We need to take a step back and examine what data is
to take a holistic look at a range of digital transformation in the available from India’s education sector to enable data science
education sector, along with aspects such as early prediction of and related activities. Once data is available, it can be used for
student marks. Augmented reality, virtual reality and videos can discovering patterns or predicting insights from data. For example,
provide great help to students in visualising various letarning items. in India, while information on schools is collected, data on student
Blockchain can be used to validate degree certificates assigned to performance is hardly available in the digital format. This results
students. Hence, we should look at range of digital technologies in limited potential for analysis. Access to student performance
rather than focusing solely on AI in the education sector. and other student-related data in the digital format can help
predict future scores and potential drop-outs.
Adaptive self-learning is the most popular AI application for the
use of data, analytics, and AI for governance, policy-making and Nevertheless, the DISE (District Information System for Education)
inclusive growth in India. Again, this would require personalised has excellent data on school infrastructure, facilities, etc. Data
PCs/laptops – how many students in India can afford this? Hence, science can help understand patterns that are most relevant to
adaptive self-learning can be possibly suggested for higher studies predict student drop-outs and low learning outcomes in schools. It
or while preparing for entrance exams.
4. How will the role of teachers / educators you foresee with regard to the implementation?
be affected with the permeation of digital
technologies and AI? These digital technologies would require personalised digital tools
such as computers/laptops/tablets, along with stable internet
AI and other digital technologies should be used to help connectivity. As mentioned previously, digital access would remain
teachers in imparting education. They can be used for predicting a major challenge as many rural areas do not yet have access to
student potential and marks as well as chances of at-risk students quality internet connection or personalised digital devices. Great
dropping out. This information would be valuable for teachers in progress is being made by the government to bridge the learning
targeting specific interventions for at-risk students. The state of gaps and reap the benefits of digital technologies.
Andhra Pradesh had conducted a pilot to predict drop-outs based
on past student scores and student backgrounds. In one of my
previous roles, I had worked towards predicting students’ scores at
Singapore schools, based on historic performance, extra-curricular
activities and socio-economic data.
AI and allied digital technologies can also be used to mark
students’ answer sheets (including hand-written ones), thereby
facilitating noting each student’s strengths and area of
improvement. This will save enormous time for teachers by
allowing them to document detailed personalised feedback for
each student.
5. What is the role of data and artificial intelligence
in India’s inclusive growth?
In cases where teachers are not adequately skilled, AI-based
technologies can help them identify areas of improvement and gain
new skills. AI can be a major tool in ensuring inclusive education
if it is used to identify students who need special teacher
intervention.

4 1
ISSUE • 9
 11 catalytic sessions with over 50 speakers

THEME 01 THEME 02 THEME 03 THEME 04 THEME 05

Key Updates Transformative

Gaming
Beyond Four Walls
of The Classroom
Transformative
Gaming
Artificial
Intelligence and
The Institutional
Framework for

at TECH 2018 and Digital

Pedagogies for
SEL
and Digital
Pedagogies for
STEM+
the Future of
Education
Application
of Digital
Technologies
in Education:
THEME Towards
TECH 2018, UNESCO MGIEP’s international conference, organised with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh, showcased the role Surveillance or
of games and digital learning in enabling a shift from “transmissive pedagogies” to “transformative pedagogies” to create peaceful Collaborative
and sustainable societies. A key output of the conference was the adoption of the Vizag Declaration on Guidelines for Digital Learning
Intelligence?
as well as the signing of several Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) and launch announcements.

mgiep.unesco.org/tech2018
DATES | November 15 – 17, 2018

VENUE | Novotel, Vizag, Andhra Pradesh, India

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

50+ BREAKOUT TECH TALK – TECH Talk DISRUPTOR’S

Jessica Lindl – Global Dan Shefet – Lawyer at Gregoire Borst – Peter Vesterbacka – Harri Ketamo – Founder SESSIONS by Anantha Duraiappah, PANEL - Artificial
Head of Education at Unity the Paris Court of Appeal Professor of Developmental Co-founder at Lightneer, and Chairman, Headai
Technologies. (France). Psychology and Cognitive Fun Academy. Formerly Director, UNESCO MGIEP Intelligence in
Neuroscience of Education,
LaPsyDE.
Mighty Eagle at Angry
Birds.
Education: Who
Owns and Who
Manages

4 3
YO U T H VOICES
Improving Social
Accountability of
Can Artificial Intelligence
OECD data shows quite clearly a relationship between increased

YOUTH VOICES
Government Purchases per capita expenditure on education, and increased per capita

Help Us Achieve Universal

GDP. Intuitively, more education is linked to stronger economies,
Through Financial
stronger institutions, and stronger societies. However, spending
Statements Data Mining
Quality Education?
more doesn’t necessarily translate directly into better education
outcomes, and countries with higher perceptions of corruption
In recent work from Brazil’s Office of tend to fare worse, since the money that is available is not used
JAMES HODSON the Comptroller General, researcher efficiently. Corruption, transparency, and accountability are areas
Rommel Carvalho found that even a where Artificial Intelligence can have an important role, ensuring
simple implementation of an analytical capital flows to the right places and is able to impact the lives of
platform for government transaction- the end users--the students.
level spending could engender more
responsible fiscal behaviour from Being inclusive doesn’t just mean solving corrupt
officials. The project automatically practices in terms of monetary flows or systemic
identified instances of spending biases. It also means tailoring our education systems to
anomalies in procurement systems individual, emotional, cultural, and societal needs. These
James Hodson is a researcher, entrepreneur, and social activist. His work spans Machine Learning, (e.g., hundreds to thousands of dollars types of adaptation require data and knowledge about individuals-
Economics, Sustainable Global Development, Sociology, and Philosophy. James currently serves for a can of Coca Cola), and allowed -data that must be protected and used only with the understanding
as CEO of the AI for Good Foundation; and as Senior Researcher at the Artificial Intelligence overseers to identify and incentivise good and consent of the humans involved. Privacy, a key factor here, is
Department of the Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia. Through these roles, James seeks to effect behaviour. yet another emerging area of research in Artificial Intelligence--to
lasting change in our economies, societies, and scientific understanding. ensure we bring the benefits of the data revolution to everyone,
without jeopardising trust.

T
here is hope and expectation that the
maturing of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
techniques over the past years could lead to
significant improvements across the social
spectrum. From improving global health and
well-being to alleviating food security concerns, preventing crime,
and addressing corruption, AI has been heralded as a universal
solution. At the AI for Good Foundation, we measure the potential
for Artificial Intelligence to have an impact to achieve the Sustain-
able Development Goals. One of these goals is to ensure quality
and inclusive education for all, and promote lifelong learning.
However, learning has been one of the areas least impacted by
the onslaught of data science and machine learning--with little to
speak of beyond light personalisation of Massive Open Online
Courses (MOOCs).
It would be unfair to say that no effort is being dedicated to this
task. Certainly, there are researchers working on virtual
tutors1, automated text-book creation2, personalised
learning paths3 and more4. However little as yet has made it
into mainstream adoption, and even less has been shown to have
consistent positive impact on learning outcomes. Classrooms,
training and continuous education in developed countries (those
with ample resources to experiment) look more or less as they did
50 years ago, except with access to the internet, and perhaps some
“educational activities” on computers that do little more than
distract classrooms and disrupt social learning.
What can and should we do to bring the benefits of big
data and Artificial Intelligence to improve quality of
learning?
More Open Data, More Open Education
Resources
In online settings, massive amounts of data are being collected
regarding learner choices, behaviours, and outcomes. Some
of these data are being used to make recommendations, or
to improve courses in future. These data need to be properly
harnessed to drive our understanding of how individual students
learn best, and to give them the guidance and resources they need
on a case by case, self-serve basis. Learning settings need to escape
the classroom into the real world--allowing people to continue
learning along their personalised paths to their learning goals at
any time.
Intelligent, Supportive Learning
Environments
In classroom settings, teachers often do not have the
time for highly personalised 1-1 tutoring and feedback.
Instead, work is set to be reviewed at a later time, introducing a lag
between effort and feedback. This separation dilutes the learning
experience, and makes it harder for teachers to tailor content to
their students. Classroom support “AI Tutor” systems have been
available since the 1970s’, and yet today’s most sophisticated
learning technologies (e.g., Rosetta Stone’s language learning
software) use only very basic machine learning (for example, to
match speech patterns) to help students succeed. Fifty years on,
learning environments should be immersive, interactive, and
virtual tutors should be there for students whenever a teacher
cannot be, promoting social, emotional and conceptual learning.
Promote Economic Opportunity
Understanding the relationship between learning, skills, and
employment is critical for the future strength of our economy.
Artificial Intelligence can help us to identify trends from
local to global scales, and prepare the workforce of
tomorrow today. Not only can a detailed view of the current
mosaic of supply and demand of abilities help us to ensure
consistent high quality employment, but also to appropriately
incentivise the learning of skills that will create economic
opportunity in future. Labour economists and AI researchers can
work hand in hand to ensure appropriate models are built and
mechanisms derived to extract maximum social surplus.
Even the best systems are useless if they don’t reach the
people who need them most. Can AI help us to improve
global access to learning?
Eradicate Corruption
Education is the cornerstone of human prosperity and
flourishing. Education brings understanding, compassion, and
the means to make a positive difference in the world. Now is
the time to bring the benefits of technology, data and
Artificial Intelligence to learning at all levels, in all
environments and for all people. With focused efforts today,
we can break down the barriers, inequities and misunderstandings
that prevent us from achieving our full potential. Artificial
Intelligence is not a one-stop solution, but its presence can
allow us to place renewed emphasis on the identification and
implementation of new paradigms for learning and development.
Let’s use this as an opportunity to take big steps forward.
About the AI for Good Foundation
The AI for Good Foundation is a US 501(c)3 Public Charity and
global non-profit that fosters activities to maximise the benefit
of AI technologies for social good through the lens of global
sustainable development. Through a blend of foundational
research, outreach, education and policy engagement our current
projects are helping to advance the global sustainable development
agenda — a set of goals adopted by 150 countries to end poverty,
protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. Find out more
about the AI for Good Foundation and how you can help by
visiting https://www.ai4good.org/.

1.
Johnson, W.L. & Lester, J.C. “Face-to-Face Interaction with Pedagogical Agents, Twenty Years Later”, 3.
Chen, Chih-Ming. “Intelligent web-based learning system with personalised learning path guidance.” Computers & Education 51.2 (2008): 787-814.
Int J Artif Intell Educ (2016) 26: 25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-015-0065-9 4.
See, for example, “Artificial Intelligence in Education”, C.-K. Looi et. al. (Eds.), IOS Press (2005). 4 5
ISSUE • 9 2.
Singh, Rohit, Sumit Gulwani, and Sriram K. Rajamani. “Automatically Generating Algebra Problems.” AAAI. 2012.
YO U T H VOICES
YO U T H VOICES

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REFERENCES
Artificial Intelligence
“AI for Good Foundation.” AI for Good Foundation, ai4good.org/.
for Education
Carvalho, Rommel N., et al. “Probabilistic Ontology and Knowledge Fusion for Procurement
Fraud Detection in Brazil.” Uncertainty Reasoning for the Semantic Web II Lecture Notes in
SOMA S DHAVALA
Computer Science, 2013, pp. 19–40., doi:10.1007/978-3-642-35975-0_2.
Carvalho, Rommel, et al. “Using Clustering and Text Mining to Create a Reference Price
Database.” Learning and Nonlinear Models, vol. 12, no. 1, 2014, pp. 38–52., doi:10.21528/
lnlm-vol12-no1-art3.
Chen, Chih-Ming. “Intelligent Web-Based Learning System with Personalised Learning Path
Guidance.” Computers &amp; Education, vol. 51, no. 2, 2008, pp. 787–814., doi:10.1016/j.
compedu.2007.08.004.
Fairfield, John. “Speech Comparison in the Rosetta Stone” Proceedings of a Symposium on
Soma S Dhavala is an Innovator, Entrepreneur and AI Architect, operating at the interface of
Computer Mediated Language Assessment and Evaluation in Natural Language Processing -
Statistics, Machine Learning, Computing and the Internet of Things. He is a co-founder of
ASSESSEVALNLP ‘99, 1999, doi:10.3115/1598834.1598837.
VitalTicks, a digital healthcare startup, - where he is leading product design, architecture and
Farzindar, Atefeh, and Kešelj Vlado. Advances in Artificial Intelligence: 23rd Canadian solutioning. Soma consults in the EdTech space, architecting AI solutions and platforms, and
Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Canadian AI 2010, Ottawa, Canada, May 31 - June 2, designs and reviews curriculum in AI and Deep Learning.
2010: Proceedings. Springer, 2010.
“Home .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” United Nations, United Nations, Soma obtained his Ph.D (TAMU) in Statistics (where he worked on applying Bayesian
sustainabledevelopment.un.org/.
Nonparametrics to systems biology) in 2010, Master’s (IIT-M) in 2000 and B.E (SRKREC, Andhra
Pradesh) in 1997. He also worked in a post-doctoral role in the area of Dynamical Systems at
Hoppe, Ulrich. Artificial Intelligence in Education: Shaping the Future of Learning through TAMU for almost a year. He has over 10 publications and multiple patents to his credit.
Intelligent Technologies. IOS Press, 2003.
Johnson, W. Lewis, and James C. Lester. “Face-to-Face Interaction with Pedagogical Agents, MOOCs and Flipped Classrooms have become successful, and
Twenty Years Later.” International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, vol. 26, no.
Premise and Problem
Free and Compulsory Education for children in the age group of access to quality content is no longer a barrier, at least in terms
1, 2015, pp. 25–36., doi:10.1007/s40593-015-0065-9. of higher education. A person in a remote village in India can
6-14 is a Fundamental Right, enacted by the Parliament of India
Lee, Fong-Lok. “Web Algebra Tutor: A Web-Based AI-Enabled Interactive Learning
[1]. It acknowledges, in spirit, that access to education is necessary enroll in a course taught and conducted by faculty at Stanford,
Environment in Algebra.” The International Journal of Learning: Annual Review, vol. 8, no.
to realising an individual’s inner potential. However, it is quite a which would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Despite the
1, 2004, doi:10.18848/1447-9494/cgp/v08/47970. credibility of the offering and the relatively privileged learning
feat to achieve even this relatively modest goal in countries such
Li, Tao, and Samuel Sambasivam. “Automatically Generating Questions in Multiple as India, where the varied demographic landscape renders “one groups, such platforms suffer heavy dropout rates, largely because
Variables for Intelligent Tutoring.” Proceedings of the 2005 InSITE Conference, 2005, size fits all solutions” ineffective [2]. In addition, the number of either the intrinsic needs or the necessary prerequisites, or both,
doi:10.28945/2890. the aspirants, and the unfavourable skew on the supply side of the have not been met. As per the ASER 2017 report, unaddressed
Looi, Chee-Kit. Artificial Intelligence in Education: Supporting Learning through Intelligent quality resources, makes it even harder. A larger supporting learning gaps typically carry forward, making the learner even
and Socially Informed Technology. IOS, 2005. ecosystem is needed, wherein an individual is given more vulnerable to failure in future [6]. Given a deeper mobile
attention based on his/her learning capabilities and the penetration, and cheaper data access plans, can data-
Rosé, Carolyn Penstein. Artificial Intelligence in Education: 19th International Conference,
changing world order. Adequate quality learning resources at hungry AI solutions deliver personalised education, and
AIED 2018, London, UK, June 27-30, 2018: ProceedingsnPart 1. Springer, 2018.
all levels (including physical, emotional, individual and societal) rival the breakthroughs happening in other disciplines
“THE VIRTUAL TUTOR - Development of a Virtual Tutor within a Simulated Working
are also required. Can technology help? such as Computer Vision and Natural Language
Environment.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer Supported
Understanding (NLU)?
Education, 2012, doi:10.5220/0003966601910194.
Weischedel, Ralph M., et al. “An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Language Instruction.”
Prior
Artificial Intelligence, vol. 10, no. 3, 1978, pp. 225–240., doi:10.1016/s0004-3702(78)80015-
For a long time, EdTech remained an academic activity, where Parts
0. AAI-powered or an otherwise learner-centric EdTech
both models of learning materials and methods, and the means
Wenger, Etienne. Artificial Intelligence and Tutoring Systems: Computational and Cognitive
of instructional delivery, such as those found in intelligent tutoring offering needs to have, at the least, 1) presentable content and
Approaches to the Communication of Knowledge. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 1987.
systems, were largely experimental and were without much representation of its constituents 2) an assessment framework 3)
penetration, despite strong theoretical foundations [3-4]. However, a taxonomy of the concepts and lesson plans to chart learning
as the internet has become both accessible and affordable, journeys. Outside the realm of these formal pedagogic elements

4 7
ISSUE • 9
YO U T H VOICES
lie the important but often overlooked elements such as 4) user
experience, 5) behavioural and social contexts, and 6) benevolent
marketing and branding. Without these conditions, chances of
an EdTech solution being a successful product are rather slim.
Nonetheless, there are efforts to push the envelope, and harness
the seemingly ripe conditions for trying out AI powered solutions
[7-10]. Any particular solution makes certain assumptions
about those elements in the composition. Consequentially, the
relevance and effectiveness vary for any learner. In order for AI-
powered solutions to be contextualised, commoditised,
and available to wider, diverse audience, a rich set of
tooling, standards, and best practices are required.
Product Building
AI and Machine Learning are still evolving. Unlike physical
products that can be perceived directly, such as an electric
fan, AI products are most likely be intangible. For example,
a manufacturer can provide a five-year warranty on the fan’s
motor. A user can exercise the warranty when the motor burns
out. Contrast that with an AI-powered content recommendation
solution – what can be guaranteed or certified about it? This
opens up a pandora’s box. Is there a way of building AI-powered
products so that they conform to standards and scrutiny by
third-parties? Are the results reproducible, auditable, scalable and
customisable, among many other dimensions? The AI industry
is responding to these challenges with conceptual
frameworks [12], open standards and platforms [13-15],
and AI education resources [16]. Another set of orthogonal
concerns has far-reaching implications from a pedagogical
and ethical standpoint. At a fundamental level, can the results
be explained to the learner? Can the Right to Explanation be
enforced, which could be enacted as a law in the future? Should
AI-driven EdTech be regulated to safeguard learner interests? For
example, a popular commercially available learning application is
not in the purview of regulation.
ISSUE • 9
In order for AI-powered solutions to be
contextualised, commoditised, and
available to wider, diverse audience, a rich
set of tooling, standards, and best practices
are required.
Conclusion
The potential of personalised quality education, regardless of
geographical, socio-cultural and other affiliations etc.., by means
of AI and Deep Learning, is recognised [19-22]. However, a
sustained, coordinated effort to address them holistically, from
pedagogical to experiential to business to ethics and governance
angles, is required. Concerted efforts are needed to develop
a) data-first platforms b) shared NLU and AI infrastructure and
c) agile processes to develop AI products. These products should
eventually be used to create customised, relevant, engaging,
explainable and governable solutions for every learner.
YOUTH VOICES
REFERENCES
[1] Right To Education Act, 2009
[2] Still too many children out of school, The Hindu, September 4, 2018
[3] Nikos, M., Hendrik, D., Katrien, V., and Erik, Duval., (2014), Recommender
Systems for Learning, Springer-Verlag NewYork, 2014.
[4] Advances in Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Eds. Editors: Nkambou, Roger,
Mizoguchi, Riichiro, Bourdeau, Jacqueline (Eds.), Springer-Verlag Berlin
Heidelberg, 2010.
[5] Jordan, K. (2015). Massive open online course completion rates revisited:
Assessment, length and attrition. The International Review of Research in Open
and Distributed Learning
[6] ASER 2017: Beyond Basics
[7] ALEKS
[8] ENLEARN
[9] Sana Labs: AI for Education
[10] expi.com
[11] ReedEx: An Intelligent Reading Assistant
[12] Fifteen Commandments and an Axiomatic Framework for building Machine
Learning Products
[13] openAI: Discovering and enacting the path to safe artificial general intelligence
[14] AllenAI: AI for the common good
[15] Wadhvani.ai: AI for social good
[16] 500k.ai: 500 Thousand AI Programmers Initiative
[17] Byju’s personalization engine
[18] The EU General Data Protection Regulation
[19] Dhar, V., Nilekani, N., S. Maruwada, Pappu, N. (2016), Big Data as an Enabler,
Journal of Big Data, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 137-140
[20] Kurshan, B, The Future of Artificial Intelligence in Education, in Forbes,
accessed on 6th September, 2018.
[21] China State Council’s “A Next Generation AI Development Plan”,
[22] NITI Ayog’s discussion paper on “National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence
document”, 2018
All links were accessed on 6th September, 2018
4 9
ACTIVITY
B U L L ETIN

Dr. Anantha Duraiappah elected as a Fellow UNESCO MGIEP conducts a Plenary Session

ACTIVITY BULLETIN
to The World Academy of Sciences at the the 11th Biennial Comparative
Education Society of Asia (CESA) Conference
May, 2018
May 11-12, 2018, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Dr. Anantha K. Duraiappah, Director, UNESCO Mahatma
Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable The Comparative Education Society of Asia (CESA) is an
Development (MGIEP) was recently elected as a Fellow to association of educational scholars, working to promote
The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), a pioneering, comparative education as a scholarly field across Asia
merit-based academy focused on the advancement of science and to strengthen Asian voices in global debates about
in developing countries. Dr. Duraiappah was recognised and education. The 11th CESA Biennial Conference was held
elected to TWAS for his contribution to the progression of on 11–12 May 2018 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The theme
the field of sciences in developing nations.Speaking on his for 2018 was ‘Education and Social Progress: Insights from
election, Dr. Duraiappah expressed: “It is an honour to be Comparative Perspectives’. On May 12, a plenary panel
a part of this prestigious body of scientists who have carried discussion was dedicated to UNESCO MGIEP’s seminal
out some ground-breaking work in science. I look forward report Rethinking Schooling: The State of Education for
to working alongside this body towards advancement of Peace, Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship in
sciences – specifically in the field of learning sciences.” Asia. Dr Yoko Mochizuki, Head of Rethinking Curricula
Programme of UNESCO MGIEP, presented the key
findings.

The Government of Delhi organises a

workshop for Special Educators in Screening
Different Learners Textbook Embedding Project going strong
in Sikkim with the Second workshop for
May 10, 2018, New Delhi, India
Textbook Authors
In its mission to achieve inclusive and quality education for May 20 – 22, 2018, Gangtok, India
all (SDG 4.7), UNESCO MGIEP conducted a capacity-
building workshop to enhance the skills of special educators The project to embed concepts of peace and sustainable
in identifying and addressing students who learn differently development in textbooks of Sikkim is progressing steadily
as part of Government of Delhi’s project SMILE for its with the second workshop for textbook authors organised in
public schools. It was held on May 10, at Department of Gangtok from May 20-22, 2018. The embedding project is
Education’s premises and attended by 60 psychologists conceptualised as a continuous and comprehensive capacity
from the National Capital Region. UNESCO MGIEP’s building of textbook authors. The second workshop
Difference Learning Project aims to improve functional marked a beginning with textbook authors starting to create
literacy rate by enabling teachers, special educators, early drafts of examples of chapters, which went through
psychological experts and parents to identify different participatory feedbacks as well as feedback from facilitators.
learners, provide diagnosis and cater to their different
needs in the classroom. Dr Nandini C. Singh, Head of
the Difference Learning Project at UNESCO MGIEP,
conducted the workshop in collaboration with Ms Geet
Oberoi, Founder of Orkids, an organisation working in
the field of assessment, remediation and teacher training
of educators.were discussed. The meeting also provided
the participants with the opportunity to understand the
work of their fellow partners for new collaborations and
partnerships to emerge.

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YESPeace Partners’ Meeting- India How should we prevent violent extremism?
The youth may have the answer!
May 22-24, 2018, Gurugram, India
May 25, 2018, New Delhi, India
UNESCO MGIEP hosted the 2018 Partners Meeting
of the Youth for Education, Sustainability and Peace It may have been early on a Friday morning, but
(YESPeace)Network at TERI Gram in Gurugram, India the 100 plus youth who attended the launch of
from 22-24 May 2018. The Partners’ Meeting brought #YouthWagingPeace—Action Guidelines for the Prevention
together existing and potential partners of the YESPeace of Violent Extremism (PVE) were raring to go with ideas,
Network from across South Asia and Africa. The meeting questions and tangible action points for PVE. The launch
served as a platform to develop a common and shared was followed by a riveting panel discussion on Youth
understanding of the YESPeace network, discuss the Action Across Borders which saw panellists such as author
potential of cross-country and intra-country collaboration and youth activist Gurmehar Kaur from India diving
between YESPeace partners, identify timelines and orient deep into their own experiences on youth empowerment.
the partners to MGIEP’s Youth Kindness Campaign. Underscoring the need for action-oriented guidelines,
Different ideas and strategies were explored and plans H.E Ms. Harinder Sidhu, High Commissioner to India,
for the growth and expansion of the network were Australian High Commission in New Delhi said, “The
discussed. The meeting also provided participants with the #YouthWagingPeace Action Guidelines helps individuals
opportunity to understand the work of their fellow partners and communities to build tools such as critical thinking,
for new collaborations and partnerships to emerge. resilience, compassion and respect for diversity which they
need to challenge extremist ideologies.”

Three-day workshop for young educators on

prevention of violent extremism Learn to play and play to learn – a
Distinguished Lecture hosted by UNESCO
May 22-24, 2018, Gurgaon, India
MGIEP on the role of gaming in education

The launch event of #YouthWagingPeace – Action June 28, 2018, New Delhi, India
Guidelines for Prevention of Violent Extremism was
preceded by an intensive 3-day workshop for 25 young
Can learning be made fun and experiential? In UNESCO
educators from across India, including three Rohingya
MGIEP’s Distinguished Lecture held at the UNESCO
youth working for the Rohingya refugee community in
New Delhi, India on Thursday, June 28, 2018, Zigor
India.
Hernandorena Juarros, Senior Project Manager – Fun
Learning Department, Ubisoft (makers of Assassins Creed
Facilitated by Ms Carolyn Nash, Coordinating Lead Author,
Franchise, The Division, Far Cry, Watch Dog), discussed
#YouthWagingPeace and Mr Simon Kuany, Project Officer,
how digital pedagogies such as games can be used as an
#YouthWagingPeace, the 25 young educators were able to
effective tool to impart learning. The lecture was attended
adapt the Action Guidelines and came up with their own
by over a hundred participants including teachers,
context-specific lesson plans for their respective stakeholders
educators, curriculum designers, ed-tech experts, games
(teachers, school administrators, families and policymakers).
designers and developers as well as students. In his lecture,
UNESCO MGIEP will continue to work with these young
titled ‘Learn to play and play to learn, the role of gaming
educators to ensure that the lesson plans are implemented
in education’, Zigor explained how digital games can be
and the outputs reflected/included in the broader
designed to reward players, acknowledge practice and
#YouthWagingPeace workbook. This workbook will include
incremental progress, thus making learning more effective
all the tested lesson plans developed and tried by young
through peer-collaboration and a project-based approach.
participants of #YouthWagingPeace workshops.
Zigor also underlined the need to develop suitable content
for games to make them more relevant to 21st century
learners’ reaction from vision, and to turn the victim into
the hero or the warrior for waging peace.

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Youth for SDGs Peace Tables: Organised by
Standing Together to Enable Peace
June 29 - July 9, 2018, New Delhi, India
Twenty youth leaders from New Delhi and other parts of
India have created dynamic Community Action Plans for
Art and Democracy, digital media, gender, and interfaith
dialogue. The plans were developed through a series of
Peace Tables from June to July 2018, organised by Standing
Together to Enable Peace (STEP), a prominent Indian
NGO working to build peace and a partner in UNESCO
MGIEP’s Youth for Education, Sustainability and Peace
(YESPeace) Network. Through the process of the Peace
Tables, participants use their skills to combat the problems
of incomplete and unequal implementation of the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well
as the challenges to peace, prosperity and security in the
context of a developing country like India. The Peace
Tables successfully enabled the young leaders to dwell deep
into their motivations, to sieve out reaction from vision, and
to turn the victim into the hero or the warrior for waging
peace.
Compassion Acts, Empathy and Benefits
of SEL – UNESCO MGIEP conducts an online
presentation and discussion on SEL and
Global Citizenship
July 2018
A key focus area for UNESCO MGIEP is content
development in socio-emotional learning, as part of which
the Institute delivered an online pre-recorded presentation
on SEL as a key essence of achieving global citizenship.
As part of the presentation, Dr. Nandini Chatterjee Singh,
Programme Specialist –Science of Learning, posed some
reflective questions to the educator community, including:
1) Discuss one compassionate act you did today 2) Can
you think of some ways to encourage empathy 3) Discuss
how socio-emotional learning can benefit students’ overall
learning. To view the presentation and read responses to the
reflective questions, visit: https://bit.ly/2OvBpkc .
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Second Futures Workshop on ‘The State
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of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
Assessment’
July 19 - 21, 2018, Paris, France
UNESCO MGIEP organised the Second Futures’
Workshop, held at La Sorbonne University, Paris between
July 19-21, 2018, bringing together an expert group
comprising of representatives of different disciplines,
including neuroscience, human development psychology,
anthropology, and education. The themes discussed
were evidence-based practices for SEL implementation
in education, and the commitment to bring nuanced
cultural contextualisation to the implementation of SEL
programming in schools.
First ‘Training the Trainers Workshop’ on
Cantor’s World
July 24 - 25, 2018, New Delhi, India
UNESCO MGIEP’s Games for Learning Programme
in collaboration with Fields of View conducted the first
‘Training the Trainers’ Workshop on the game Cantor’s
World. Cantor’s World, one of the many learning products
developed by UNESCO MGIEP, is a simulation based
game developed to understand the Inclusive Wealth Index,
and to understand the uncertainties involved in governing a
complex socio-economic system of a country. The game is
targeted towards master’s level students of economics and
sustainability studies and mid-career policy makers. The
workshop was conducted as a first step of the pilot study
to demonstrate the game to invited lecturers from different
universities, introduce and train them on the game, in
order to facilitate its deployment as a pedagogical tool in
classrooms in these universities. The lecturers will go back
and use this game as a learning resource in their classrooms
and suggest improvements to the curriculum modules and
the game itself.
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Ecology, Economy and Society: Essays in #KindnessMatters: Indian youth show

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Honour of Kanchan Chopra by Vikram Dayal force of Kindness across the country on
(Editor), Anantha Duraiappah (Editor), International Youth Day through Instameets
Nandan Nawn (Editor) in 14 cities on the Sustainable Development
Goals
August 2018, India
August 12, 2018, India
UNESCO MGIEP’s Director, Dr. Anantha Duraiappah
recently co-edited a book titled ‘Ecology, Economy and More often than not, youth are the subject of skepticism
Society: Essays in Honour of Kanchan Gupta’. Published when it comes to stepping out of their comfort zones and
by Springer, the book includes four vital themes related to taking tangible steps towards the Sustainable Development
the environment-development discourse -- sustainability of Goals (SDGs). However, on International Youth Day
development, institutions and environmental governance, (Sunday, 12 August 2018) thousands of Indian youth
display the power of kindness across 14 cities joined
environment and well-being, and ecosystem and
forces to perform voluntary Acts of Kindness towards the
conservation. The book is a valuable resource for students,
Sustainable Development Goals and proved naysayers
teachers, researchers, practitioners and policy makers. A wrong. The unique pan-India Instameets, organised by
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed UNESCO MGIEP and Instagram India, were aimed at
between Samsung India and UNESCO MGIEP to launch mobilising youth to take tangible action towards realising
360-degree videos and VR educational content for 28 the Sustainable Development Goals, primarily in the
UNESCO Heritage sites in India. form of collaborative acts of kindness. While these acts of
kindness encompassed many issues, there was unanimous
commitment by all youth groups across SDGs and cities.
These unique Instameets marked the India launch of
the International Youth Campaign on Kindness for the
Sustainable Development Goals, which aims at collecting
Dr. Nandini Chatterjee Singh accorded The 25,000 stories of kindness by youth across the world by the
NASI – Reliance Industries Platinum Jubilee end of 2019. It is the first in the line of many international
Award 2018 events celebrating youth action towards realising the SDGs.

August 2018, India

Dr. Nandini Chatterjee Singh, Programme Specialist –

Science of Learning, UNESCO MGIEP was recently An Ahinsa Dialogue on ‘Creating a Culture of
accorded The National Academy of Sciences, India Peace’ – a conversation on peace, education
- Reliance Industries Platinum Jubilee Award 2018 for and neuroplasticity
Application Oriented Innovations covering both Physical
and Biological Sciences. Dr. Singh is one of six recipients October 2, 2018 | Paris, France
of this prestigious national award. At UNESCO MGIEP,
Nandini oversees the Rethinking Learning Programme,
including Libre, our flagship project and Difference In commemoration of the beginning of the year-long
Learning, amongst others. celebration of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary
and the International Day of Non-Violence 2018, the
UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi of Education for Peace and
Sustainable Development (MGIEP) and the Permanent
Delegation of India to UNESCO jointly organised the third
Ahinsa Dialogue on October 2, 2018. The dialogue featured
Sadhguru in discussion with Gregoire Borst, Professor of
Developmental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience
of Education, LaPsyDE, on ‘Creating a Culture of Peace’.
Moderated by Dr Anantha Duraiappah, the discussion
involved Sadhguru and Gregoire engaging in a conversation
on ‘Peace, Neuroplasticity and Education’. Over 500
participants attended the dialogue, including various
dignitaries, educators, academics, policy-makers and youth.

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#KindnessMatters: Youth across the
globe come out in large numbers to launch
UNESCO MGIEP’s International Youth
campaign on Kindness for the SDGs
October 2, 2018 | New Delhi, INDIA
The global launch of UNESCO MGIEP’s campaign
witnessed mass participation from youth in four countries---
South Africa, India, Pakistan and Mexico where UNESCO
MGIEP’s International Youth Campaign on Kindness for
the Sustainable Development Goals was simultaneously
launched via a live link connecting the four nations.
In true spirit of the campaign (which aims to mobilise youth
acts of kindness towards the Sustainable Development
Goals), the campaign launch witnessed massive acts of
kindness committed by youth for one or more of the
Sustainable Development Goals.
#TAGeKindness: Youth and policymakers
dissect the role of “Kindness” in a time of
Societal and Planetary change
October 2, 2018 | New Delhi, INDIA
On the occasion of the United Nations International
Day of Non-violence, and in line with its vision of
mainstreaming the collective voice of youth in the highest
levels of policymaking processes in education for peace,
sustainability and global citizenship, UNESCO Mahatma
Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable
Development (MGIEP) hosted the latest edition of its
flagship TAGe dialogue series as part of the Global Launch
of the International Youth Campaign on Kindness for the
SDGs in 4 cities: New Delhi, India; Islamabad, Pakistan;
Cape Town, South Africa and TEC de Monterrey, Mexico.
ISSUE • 9
#KindnessMatters: In a befitting celebration,
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South African youth join forces to launch
UNESCO MGIEP’s Campaign on Kindness on
the ocassion of International Day of Non-
Violence
October 2, Cape Town
Africa Unite, in partnership with Activate! Change
Drivers and the UNESCO MGIEP and Sustainable
Development (UNESCO – MGIEP), Western Cape
Provincial Government and City of Cape Town launched
the International Youth Campaign on Kindness for the
Sustainable Development Goals on October 2, 2018, at the
Cape Town City Hall.
#KindnessMatters: Pakistan youth say ‘yes’
to Kindness; launch MGIEP’s International
Youth Campaign on Kindness at YESPeace
Festival
October 2, 2018 | Islamabad, Pakistan
Over 130 young members of YESPeace Pakistan came
together in Islamabad on October 2 to launch the
International Youth Campaign on Kindness for the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The launch took
place at the Hill View Hotel wherein the youth shared
their kindness stories with each other and video connected
with the launch events in New Delhi, Cape Town and
Monterrey (Mexico). The event was organised and managed
by YESPeace Pakistan, a collective of youth organisations
in Pakistan that included HIVE and College of Youth
Activism and Development (CYAAD). The programme was
supported actively by volunteers and facilitators from the
International Federation of Red Crescent (IFRC) Pakistan.
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Learning with A.I. COMIC
CORNER

I wonder how
they work..
Seesaws are
so much fun!

Miss, when we get back

Oh look! to class, can you teach us
There’s our teacher, how a seesaw works?
we can ask her.

Why later?
We can learn that
right now using
Artifical Intelligence!

See kids, A.I. can

make learning fun
and possible anywhere!
The Blue DOT is UNESCO MGIEP’s bi-annual publication, featuring articles showcasing our activities
and areas of interest. The magazine’s overarching theme is the relationship between education, peace,
sustainable development and global citizenship. To view the e-publication, visit –
http://mgiep.unesco.org/the-bluedot