Penn’s Graduate School of Education is one of seven international institutions participating in a new research consortium on the use of artificial intelligence in education.
The project launched on Sept. 17 at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Institutions in Ghana, Spain, India, Kazakhstan, Colombia, and Qatar will contribute to the consortium in addition to Penn.
The consortium is headed by the WISE initiative — the educational branch of the Qatar Foundation — and the Institute of International Education. Each partner institution will pursue research projects over the next year related to the development of AI in higher education, exploring topics across global perspectives.
Penn’s specific objective is to investigate the social repercussions of AI in education, namely its potential to improve educational inequities and stimulate positive outcomes. Researchers will compare the influence of AI between “a medallion university and an opportunity institution,” according to Penn GSE News.
The study will center on how generative AI-driven technologies relate to both students and instructors. GSE researchers will note the dynamics between students and faculty, along with the habits and assumptions that inform the implications of AI.
The involvement of Penn GSE in the initiative comes amid a larger, campus-wide effort to explore AI applications. Last August, Analytics at Wharton released the AI at Wharton project as an opportunity for students to apply AI in the realm of business. In February of this year, Penn announced the creation of an undergraduate degree in AI, becoming the first Ivy League university to do so.
Penn has also given attention to the use of AI in classroom environments. The University drafted community guidelines last November regarding the use of AI and machine learning. Prior to the policy, the scope and transparency of AI use were left to the judgment of each professor.
The results of Penn’s study on AI equity will be presented next year at the annual WISE summit in Doha, Qatar.
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