UNESCO published its first guidance on the use of Generative AI (GenAI) For education, government agencies were urged to regulate the use of the technology, including protecting data privacy and setting age limits for users.
Launched by Microsoftsupported OpenAI In November, GenAI chatbot chatgpt To date it has become the world’s fastest growing app, and its emergence has prompted the release of rivals, such as Google‘S bard,
Students have also loved GenAI, which can generate anything from essays to mathematical calculations with just a few prompts.
“We are struggling to align the pace of change of the education system with the pace of technological progress and advancements in these machine learning models,” Stefania Giannini, assistant director general of education, told Reuters.
“In many cases, governments and schools are adopting completely unfamiliar technology that even leading technologists do not claim to understand,” he said.
Among a series of guidelines in the 64-page report, UNESCO stressed the need for government-approved AI curricula for school education in technical and vocational education and training.
UNESCO said, “GenAI providers should be held accountable for ensuring adherence to core values and legitimate purposes, respecting intellectual property and maintaining ethical practices, as well as preventing the spread of misinformation and hate speech.”
It also called for the prevention of GenAI where it would deprive learners of opportunities to develop cognitive abilities and social skills through real-world observation, empirical practices such as experiments, discussion with other humans and independent logical reasoning.
While China prepares regulations on GenAI, the EU’s AI Act is likely to be approved later this year. Other countries are far behind in drafting their own AI laws.
The Paris-based agency also sought to protect the rights of teachers and researchers and the value of their practices when using GenAI.
© Thomson Reuters 2023