AI教育で際立つ、深まる人間性の探求　　気ままなリライト９６

「AI講師」が難関大学対策　説明や記述問題、絶妙アシスト - 日本経済新聞

When AI systems are exhibiting cognitive and analytical prowess surpassing human performance, especially in tasks like passing entrance exams from prestigious colleges, the AI’s bedazzling power is prompting a deep reflection on educational value in the educational sector. Is it genuinely enriching to solely emulate AI-driven pathways in learning? How should educators harness AI-derived insights to enhance  the uniqueness of human qualities? Numerous cram schools are treading this new ground, aiming to meld AI not just as tools, but as insightful mentors adept at evaluating problem-solving and logical reasoning. The crux of the challenge is to employ AI-enhanced methods to invigorate student motivation, without turning them into mere marionettes controlled by AI masterminds.

Given that the primary objective of major cram schools is to prepare students for entrance exams to prestigious colleges rather than equipping them with real-world skills like emotional intelligence, the innovative and efficient solutions provided by AI-driven learning pathways are aligning well with their business-driven goals, especially for those schools facing a shortage of qualified instructors. An AI-centric approach is enabling students to boost their performance beyond what traditional human methods could achieve, as it customizes learning experiences based on each student’s distinct needs, preferences and learning speed. This is not only boosting engagement, but also enhancing retention. As students interact with an AI-enhanced educational platform like chatbots, their moves, responses, and progress are consistently fed back into the system. This continuous stream of data refines the AI’s tactics and guidance. Over time, the system will become better at predicting what each student needs, paving the way for a more personalized learning experience. For instance, when a student struggles with a specific subject, the system provides supplementary resources or exercises for reinforcement. When a student excels in a particular area, the AI promptly challenges him or her with more advanced material.

Sundai Preparatory School, one of the leading cram school chains in Japan, has been at the forefront of embracing technology in education. They have unveiled an AI-driven teaching tool designed specifically for analyzing answers to descriptive questions. This state-of-the-art tool, developed in-house by Sundai, has showcased its efficacy by helping students achieve high scores in descriptive questions of entrance exams for top-tier colleges. At the core of this tool are advanced algorithms adept at deciphering the emotional tone or sentiment within a piece of descriptive text. The system achieves this by meticulously extracting and analyzing keywords, gauging their contextual relevance, and studying the overarching sentence structure. While it showcases incredible precision, like all tools, it isn't without its vulnerabilities. The complexities of irony or deep-seated sarcasm sometimes pose challenges. Out of over 10,000 students who utilized this tool for descriptive questions in physics, a significant majority witnessed a marked improvement in their performance. The 'deviation value', a metric employed in Japan to measure a student's performance relative to peers or a school's average score, saw an increase ranging from 10 to 20 points in some of them. With ambitions soaring high, Sundai plans to expand the application of this AI-driven tool to other subjects, including Chemistry, English, and Math. The motivation behind this is the boost in the quality of self-study sessions through immediate, qualitative feedback on descriptive questions. This real-time critique serves as an academic catalyst, pushing students to delve deeper, grasp concepts more thoroughly, and ultimately enhance their learning experience.

In a race to harness the capabilities of AI technology, many cram schools are integrating AI-based systems into their curriculum to attract students aiming for competitive college entrance exams. Yoyogi Seminar, a prominent cram school chain, has taken a significant leap in this direction. In collaboration with Riken, Japan's premier scientific research institute, they've developed a sophisticated AI-driven grading tool tailored for evaluating answers to descriptive questions in the Japanese language subject. This state-of-the-art tool is designed with algorithms that meticulously assess how closely a student's response mirrors the correct answer. It delves deep, gauging comprehension levels and the logical coherence of the answer, subsequently assigning a grade based on this assessment. The precision of this grading tool has been enhanced by the incorporation of exam data from nearly 20,000 papers, ensuring its grading standards remain highly accurate. The introduction of this automated grading approach has revolutionized the assessment process. What once was a labor-intensive, manual review process has converted into a streamlined, time-efficient procedure. This real-time feedback system significantly has reduced the workload on instructors and examiners, allowing them to concentrate on refining their expertise to complement areas where the AI tool falls short.

In even the most technologically advanced cram schools, where AI's analytical capabilities are highly valued, it is the human touch of educators which infuses the warmth and depth into the learning experience, touching the educational souls of learners. Some seasoned instructors, in digressions from their main lessons, share personal stories of nurturing intellectual curiosity and developing a resilient growth mindset, offering glimpses into their own unique emotional journeys in learning. Those narratives resonate deeply, leaving an indelible mark on their listeners. Such educators would emphasize, “Life is not a set of standardized tests with predetermined answers. It's a complex mosaic of challenges where clear solutions often are out of reach. Tackling real-world challenges often requires thinking beyond textbook solutions to first identify the hidden layers of a problem—a domain where AI's rigid algorithms falter. While AI adeptly maps out the 'what' in clear patterns, the human spirit and intellect traverse the vast unknown, in pursuit of the 'why.' When you delve into the deeper reasons behind situations, let your critical thinking be the driving force, propelling yourself to mobilize your inherent intuition, creativity, empathy, and contextual understanding. Visualize your creativity as a compass, guiding yourself beyond known boundaries, tapping into the reservoir of your past experiences. Resist the inclination to unquestioningly accept the conclusions and recommendations presented by AI. The values you are unwilling to compromise on give a distinct charm to your character. Don't rely overwhelmingly on AI for your final judgment when it's your deep understanding of emotions, cultural subtleties, and societal intricacies that truly matters.  Adopt a trial-and-error mindset, aiming to craft insights that not just echo past data but are inventive and attuned to ever-changing circumstances with an eye on the future. Your innate human curiosity to uncover the 'why' starkly contrasts with AI's precise yet narrow emphasis on the 'what'.”