AI and language teaching

Spurred on, no doubt, by the current spate of books and articles about AIED (artificial intelligence in education), the IATEFL Learning Technologies SIG is organising an online event on the topic in November of this year. Currently, the most visible online references to AI in language learning are related to Glossika, basically a language learning system that uses spaced repetition, whose marketing department has realised that references to AI might help sell the product. They're not alone – see, for example, Knowble which I reviewed earlier this year . In the wider world of education, where AI has made greater inroads than in language teaching, every day brings more stuff: How artificial intelligence is changing teaching, 32 Ways AI is Improving Education, How artificial intelligence could help teachers do a better job, etc., etc. Common to all these publications is the claim that AI will radically change education. When it comes to language teaching, a similar claim has been made by Donald Clark (described by Anthony Seldon as an education guru but perhaps best-known to many in ELT for his demolition of Sugata Mitra).