Balvin Thorpe | Embrace AI in education without losing our values

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in education is reshaping classrooms across the globe, and Jamaica is no exception. AI technologies are rapidly transforming how teachers teach, how students learn, and how educational institutions operate.

In Jamaica, as in many other countries, AI is being incorporated into the education system, from personalised learning experiences to administrative tasks, making education more efficient, accessible, and tailored to individual needs. From secondary schools to universities, students are utilising tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly, and other AI-powered applications to enhance learning, streamline assignments, and access information faster.

AI SURGE IN SCHOOLS

Globally, between 2022 and 2024, an increasing number of university students are utilising AI tools. According to the Digital Education Council of Universities, this usage has surged dramatically from 30 per cent to over 85 per cent. The Ministry of Education is implementing AI in schools to assist teachers with lesson planning, reduce administrative tasks, and support students. Jamaica’s digital penetration has also risen significantly, from 42 per cent in 2015 to 85 per cent in 2024.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness says AI is here to stay and will play a significant role in Jamaica’s future. He urged the country to prepare swiftly while still protecting the quality of our education system. His remarks emphasise the importance of embracing AI while upholding education standards.

A national AI Workforce Readiness Strategy is being rolled out, which will bring AI and coding into schools, trains teachers, and supports innovation through a new AI Lab. Starting September, students and teachers will benefit from tools like the Jamaica Learning Assistant, which personalises learning and streamlines teaching.

KEEPING EDUCATION HONEST

AI has huge potential to improve education by making it personalised and improving learning outcomes with improved access to information. However, the unregulated or unethical use of AI undermines the very goals it is supposed to support. Increasingly, educators are encountering assignments and essays written entirely by AI. This raises an urgent question: How can we harness the benefits, protect hard work and originality?

This concern is not new. In the 1980s, educators feared that students would lose basic arithmetic and algebraic calculation skills. Decades later, calculators are an indispensable part of learning, as they are integrated into curricula with clear usage guidelines. Similarly, AI should not be feared, but it must be responsibly managed.

We must take deliberate and proactive steps to preserve academic integrity while allowing students to thrive in an AI-powered world. The following actions can strike this critical balance:

1. Update curriculum and assessments: Move beyond only written assessments and add oral presentations, group projects, and hands-on problem-solving exercises that demand original thought and creativity, which AI cannot do well. Additionally, curricula should include AI literacy to teach students how to use these tools ethically and effectively.

2. Clear rules for AI use: Universities must introduce clear rules outlining acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in schoolwork. Like plagiarism, unauthorised AI use should be treated as cheating. Students should be honest about using AI or pay the penalties.

3. Give teachers AI detection tools: Schools must equip educators through workshops on AI Content Detection Tools, AI Literacy Training, and AI Ethics Policies. Services like Turnitin’s AI detection module and GPTZero are already capable of identifying content patterns indicative of AI-generated works. Training teachers to recognize the distinctions of AI writing is very important.

4. AI as a supplement: AI should be presented not as a replacement for learning, but as a supplement to learning, much like a calculator or dictionary. Students must be guided to use AI for refining ideas, fact-checking, or practising, not for bypassing the learning process altogether. This should be done by encouraging students to use AI-driven mind-mapping tools that help visualize their ideas, detect connections between concepts, and refine their thoughts in an organized manner. This approach cultivates discipline, self-awareness, and integrity.

5. Empower educators: Teachers are still learning how AI works. Schools should utilise available workshops (online or in person) to train teachers to better help them understand AI, design new types of assignments, and stay ahead of the trends. Teachers also need help creating tasks that are personal, critical thinking-based, and harder for AI to complete.

AI EDUCATION IN JAMAICA

AI education is already growing in Jamaica, with local universities like the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean, The University of the West Indies, University of Technology, Jamaica, and several professional training institutions are offering courses in AI for beginners and professionals. These diverse learning paths show a national footprint of AI knowledge-building across academic and corporate spaces.

The government must support educational institutions in developing a national framework to guide the ethical integration of AI into the curriculum and widen access to AI education for teachers. This framework should align with Jamaica’s Vision 2030 plan and ensure our human capital is prepared for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

GUIDING AI WITH VALUES

The integration of AI into education must align with broader educational objectives. Misuse of AI could undermine critical skills such as creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking, skills essential for both individual development and national growth.

While embracing AI in education, we must safeguard core academic values like ethics, effort, and intellect to avoid sacrificing long-term competence for immediate convenience. Much like past technological adaptations, such as calculators and smartboards, AI can be successfully integrated if approached with proper regulation, education, and innovation. Preparing educators and students, alongside maintaining academic standards, is essential. For instance, training on AI-powered learning management systems and incorporating lessons on machine learning and ethical AI can equip students for future careers.

Balvin Thorpe is the president-elect, Jamaica Institution of Engineers. He is the vice dean, at Faculty of Engineering and Computing, University of Technology, Jamaica. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com