Under the ancient education system, individualized instruction was the ideal method of teaching: In private schools, for example, there was a relatively small number of students, which allowed teachers to provide differentiated instruction tailored to each student’s learning situation. However, under the current education system post-industrialization, students enroll in schools to acquire knowledge and receive relatively standardized instruction.
However, with the rapid development of technology, sources of learning are no longer limited to the knowledge imparted in schools. The new generation of students are digital natives, who are increasingly drawing their knowledge from the Internet — including knowledge shared on platforms such as Google, YouTube and ChatGPT — becoming a new model of learning for the future.
Many young students even use OpenAI’s large models to complete their homework, and the work produced by artificial intelligence (AI) might even be better that of some of their classmates. This has fundamentally disrupted the traditional definition of education and knowledge acquisition models.
Technology has also made studying more efficient, allowing students to take the initiative and learn on their own — a new model of future knowledge acquisition.
The learning efficiency of traditional modes of teaching cannot compete with that of AI. Therefore, for educators, determining how the role of future teachers would leverage these emerging technologies — how to employ AI-powered tools to supplement instruction — is a new and challenging task, as AI would become a teaching assistant.
In particular, as a teacher’s time is limited, it is difficult to meet the individual learning needs of every student. AI could be utilized as a clone of the teacher’s thinking, allowing students to interact with the teacher’s AI counterpart. It could take on the traditional roles of “imparting moral principles, teaching knowledge and resolving doubts,” allowing it to satisfy students’ educational needs in various applicable scenarios.
This AI counterpart would be similar to an athletic coach, playing the role of a learning companion. It could guide students from one point to another, accompanying them step by step throughout their studies.
As students have different learning goals, utilizing technology can allow for large-scale customization. By taking each student’s unique intelligence, interests, learning pace and objectives, AI could help achieve the ideal of individualized instruction.
This way, education could transform from the outdated standardized approach to one that provides customized instruction for every student. This is why I say that in the future, AI would drive a paradigm shift in the education industry. I look forward to seeing professionals seize this opportunity, whether teachers or those working in the broader education and training sector.
AI possesses vast knowledge and intelligence — and it is very clever — but it is not wise. Human brains are alive, and wisdom is born out of accumulated experience. However, AI is an excellent tool that can help us handle many problems and, of course, is directly applicable to the frontlines in the field of education, as dialogue with AI can allow students to learn.
In the future, everyone would be able to make good use of AI as a new tool, making work and study more efficient. AI can also present various perspectives on issues, allowing us to consider them more comprehensively and reduce potential blind spots in our thinking, thereby minimizing decisionmaking errors.
I have created a GPT-based AI persona called “Stan’s ‘Kingly Way’ Clone — Adan AI,” which allows ordinary people to engage in dialogue with an AI embodying the wangdao (王道) or the “Kingly Way” — a Confucian concept that advocates ruling by moral rightness and benevolence. In organizational training, this AI could serve as a teaching assistant on principled leadership, enhancing learning efficiency.
I plan to further develop AI personas on various themes, such as “kingly transformation” and “kingly accounting,” employing AI agents to create ubiquitous AI clones with diverse applications.
I believe AI would drive a paradigm shift in the education industry. We must proactively leverage AI technologies and use its intelligence as a learning tool while maintaining a people-oriented approach.
AI would play an important role in the vertical division of labor throughout this process, but humans would ultimately play the integral role, creating new value for society.
Stan Shih is the founder and honorary chairman of Acer Group.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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