“Diffusion of Innovation,” a book by Everett Rogers, explains the conditions needed for new ideas and technologies which are easy to outspread throughout society. There he raised the issue of unintended consequences. The tremendous benefits of innovation could result in unintentional negative effects, which would create a condition of disequilibrium. An innovation that advances faster than the society, research, and policies, reduces the ability to identify or assess the adverse effects. 

Over time, artificial intelligence (AI) has created a state of disequilibrium in the society as well as in education. Presently, AI could be found driving the search engines, enabling text-to-speech, translations, smart tutoring technologies, and many more. And these technologies have prospered education faster than research. As a result, despite all the promises, there could be real and significant consequences, specifically when it comes to digital equity. 

Educators & policymakers have already warned about the effects of the digital divide in the 1990s. In the beginning, this deficit referred to the lack of access to computers as well as the internet. By 2016, the National Education Technology Plan which is warned of another issue that is emerging as digital use divide, as few students realized the use of technology for the active creation of knowledge and understanding while others remained passive customers of digital content. Therefore, with the growth, another chasm may rise as a result of varying experiences and exposure to this kind of innovation.

How Artificial Intelligence Used Divide? 

According to a report by the State of Creativity in Schools, there’s no difference between the learning experience of students across multiple grade levels, geography, and students who attended schools at distinct underserved communities who reported fewer opportunities for creating learning experiences with transformative uses of technologies. 

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to penetrate the education space, a similar dichotomy might soon arise. And students might leverage AI in support of complex problem solving, critical thinking, or to create new forms of Artificial Intelligence. 

Moreover, if students have equal access to artificial intelligence, that exposure might aid in expanding the digital use divide.  

Opportunity Gap

The great promise of Artificial Intelligence is wider personalization as a platform that intends to stimulate the experience of learning alongside a personal teacher. Since the 1920s, educators are trying to create and train machines to provide immediate learning experiences on a large scale. AI platforms guide you in suggesting resources, problem-solving, or analyzing writing or speech. So, a computer decides what, when, and how students learn, or questions emerge about whether an experience could be described as personalized or leaving very little to student’s interest. 

Similarly, the volumes of evidence demonstrate that students learn the best when inspired with curiosity and opportunities for developing new thinking through social interactions and authentic experiences, which could test different ideas within a supportive environment. So, consider the potential implementation of AI platforms for personalization where the meaningful face-to-face learning experience is absent. Few of the backlashes to AI and personalized learning could be attributed to the perception that learners spent their days in technology-rich spaces.

Digital Literacy & Skills

Research reveals that the digital divide is more than only an access issue that cannot be alleviated by offering the necessary equipment. There are a minimum of three factors, information utilization, information accessibility, and information receptiveness. An individual needs to know how to utilize information and communication tools when they exist in a community. Information professionals can bridge the gaps and provide reference and information services to aid the people in learning and utilizing the technologies that have access without taking into account the economic status of the people seeking help.  

Artificial Intelligence could bring amazing benefits to education, and it could also fan flames of existing inequities and further widen the digital divide. 

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Artificial Intelligence continues to penetrate the education space as it intensifies the existing inequities and further widen the digital divide.