UNESCO Pushes for Regulations on Generative AI Use in Education

Following people's growing interest in using Generative AI, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has stepped out with the need to regulate the mind-blowing technology.

UNESCO calls on governments to urgently regulate the use of Generative AI (Gen AI), capitalizing on the need for user age limits and data privacy. It also seeks to protect the educational system from the potential risks associated with the cutting-edge technology.

UNESCO Unveils First Generative AI Guidance

On Thursday, 7, 2023, the organization released a 64-page report that capitalized on the necessity for government-supported AI curricula to be taught in schools and technical and vocational education and training (T&T) programs.

The UNESCO's guidelines stressed the need for Gen AI developers to take responsibility for legal purposes and ethical practices. Moreover, the organization demands that the AI creators actively prevent the dissemination of hate speech and misinformation.

Again, UNESCO guidelines sought to protect teachers' and researchers' rights while preserving the effectiveness of their work when using Gen AI in educational contexts.

This is because students use AI to perform some of their academic tasks due to its ability to create anything from short essays to solving complex Mathematical problems with just a few clicks.

UNESCO strongly pushed for the cautious use of Gen AI, especially where it could prevent students from developing social and cognitive skills through experimentation, real-life experiences, self-directed logical thinking, and social interaction.

According to a report, the Republic of China has drafted its regulatory measure that will guide the use of Gen AIs in the country. Additionally, the European Union (EU) has also taken reasonable steps to curb the risks associated with inappropriate use of Gen AIs.

Reports show that the EU's AI Act is approaching approval and is expected to happen before the end of this year, 2023. Nonetheless, as some countries and organizations are pushing for effective regulations on the use of AI, some other nations have not developed their state-owned AI regulations.

Generative AI Embraced by Institutions

An Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO, Stefania Giannini, expressed her worries to Reuters about how quickly the education system adapted to the rapid development of machine learning.

According to her, educational establishments and governments are welcoming a technology that is unfamiliar and that even the top technologists are still struggling to understand. Notably, during a March event, a chief operating officer at Stability AI, Ren Ito, expressed his optimism about the future of India.

It noted that AI could act as an educational partner in India as the nation's educational system is battling a low teacher-to-student ratio, implying that the country needs more academics. He believed that with over 80 percent of children in India using smartphones, there is a huge opportunity to revolutionize education through AI.

Note that one of the Gen AI chatbots, ChatGPT, developed by an AI tech firm, OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, has recorded impressive success and adoption since its launch in November 2022. Since its emergence in the application market, many rivals like Google Bard, Claude, Jasper AI, and many more have been released due to ChatGPT's growth rate.

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