Artificial Intelligence to Assist, Tutor, Teach and Assess in Higher Ed

Higher education already employs artificial intelligence in a number of effective ways--course and facilities scheduling, student recruitment campaign development, endowment investments and support, and many other operational activities are guided by AI at large institutions. The programs that run AI--algorithms--can use big data to project or predict outcomes based on machine learning, in which the computer "learns" to adapt to a myriad of changing elements, conditions and trends. Adaptive learning is one of the early applications of AI to the actual teaching and learning process. In this case AI is employed to orchestrate the interaction between the learner and instructional material. This enables the program to most efficiently guide the learner to meet desired outcomes based upon the unique needs and preferences of the learner. Using a series of assessments, the algorithm presents a customized selection of instructional materials adapted to what the learner has demonstrated mastery over and what the learner has yet to learn.