The government has asked Ofsted to launch an independent review into how schools are using artificial intelligence (AI), which will report next summer.
It will look at how both schools and further education colleges are using AI in administration and to support teaching and learning.
Alongside this, it will consider the role leaders play in embedding the use of AI and how schools and colleges approach introducing and using AI, “including the challenges, barriers, successes and benefits”.
Review to look at how schools govern AI
Ofsted will also look at how schools and colleges are monitoring “the intended and unintended impacts of AI, and how they are governing the use of AI and managing the risks to staff, pupils and learners”.
It will collect evidence from a sample of up to 20 schools and colleges that have been early adopters of AI, interviewing leaders responsible for developing and implementing new systems.
The review will gather evidence in the spring of next year and is scheduled to publish findings in the summer.
An Ofsted spokesperson said the investigation was “a small-scale exploratory piece of research” that “will be speaking with experts in the field of AI in education, including academics, international school inspectorates and education ministers, as well as international organisations, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development”.
Ofsted already uses AI itself, in its risk assessments of “good”-rated schools. The inspectorate has used it to help decide whether a school that was judged “good” at its last inspection will receive a graded or ungraded inspection next time.
In a policy paper published earlier this year, the watchdog said it was also exploring how AI can help it make better decisions based on the information it holds, and to work more efficiently.
It comes as the head of England’s exams regulator has suggested AI could be used to help generate exam questions.
Sir Ian Bauckham, interim chief regulator at Ofqual, said AI can support exam boards in creating question papers, which are comparable to previous years.
But addressing MPs on the Commons Education Select Committee on Tuesday, Sir Ian said it was “imperative” that a human oversees the marking of students’ work as the public still wants this process in place for qualifications.
A survey published last month shows teachers have “significant scepticism” about the use of AI in education.
Most schools (69 per cent) are yet to implement AI technologies, according to a YouGov poll of 1,001 teachers.
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