Generative AI tools are to be trained to help teachers create lesson plans and mark homework under a new project announced by the government.
The £4 million scheme will see government documents including curriculum guidance, lesson plans and anonymised pupil assessments used to train AI to create tools that can be used reliably in schools.
Research has shown that parents would be open to teachers using generative AI tools to help them with certain tasks, so they could then spend more time helping children in the classroom.
Tests of the new approach carried out by the Department for Education found it could increase accuracy to 92 per cent, up from 67 per cent when no targeted data was provided to an AI model.
Project ‘aims to ease admin burdens’
“We know teachers work tirelessly to go above and beyond for their students,” science secretary Peter Kyle said.
“By making AI work for them, this project aims to ease admin burdens and help them deliver creative and inspiring lessons every day, while reducing the time pressures they face.
“This is the first of many projects that will transform how we see and use public sector data. We will put the information we hold to work, using it in a safe and responsible way to reduce waiting lists, cut backlogs and improve outcomes for citizens across the country.”
The former government announced last autumn that Oak National Academy would receive “up to £2 million” in funding to build AI tools to help reduce teacher workload.
Stephen Morgan, minister for early education, said: “We are determined to break down the barriers to opportunity to ensure every child can get the best possible education - and that includes access to the best tech innovations for all.
“Artificial intelligence, when made safe and reliable, represents an exciting opportunity to give our school leaders and teachers a helping hand with classroom life.
“Today’s announcement marks a huge step forward for AI in the classroom. This investment will allow us to safely harness the power of tech to make it work for our hard-working teachers, easing the pressures and workload burdens we know are facing the profession and freeing up time, allowing them to focus on face-to-face teaching.”
Many teachers already using AI
To encourage innovation under the new scheme, the government said it would also make the content store of educational data available to AI companies, with a share of £1 million to be awarded to those who brought forward the best ideas for tools to use the data to aid teachers.
According to a survey from TeacherTapp, almost half of teachers were already using AI in some form to help with their work, but the government said that these tools were not specifically trained on teaching materials used in England.
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