{"id":74216,"date":"2024-09-20T00:31:11","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T04:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=74216"},"modified":"2024-09-20T00:31:11","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T04:31:11","slug":"clones-in-the-classroom-why-universities-must-be-wary-of-embracing-ai-driven-teaching-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/clones-in-the-classroom-why-universities-must-be-wary-of-embracing-ai-driven-teaching-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Clones in the classroom: why universities must be wary of embracing AI-driven teaching tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The university sector in\u00a0Aotearoa New Zealand<\/a>\u00a0is at a tipping point due to chronic underfunding, shifting enrolments and increasing costs from inflation. In response, the government has established\u00a0two working groups<\/a>\u00a0to assess the health of the sector and provide recommendations for the future.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, universities find themselves increasingly beholden to the education technology (EdTech) industry, which claims to improve student learning by selling hardware and software \u2013 often built with artificial intelligence (AI).<\/p>\n

Most universities already pay for services from EdTech companies such as Turnitin, Grammarly, CampusTalk and Studiosity, all of which use AI in their products.<\/p>\n

But critics say this trust in EdTech is misplaced and amounts to what technology writer Evgeny Morozoc calls\u00a0technological solutionism<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cthe idea that given the right code, algorithms and robots, technology can solve all of mankind\u2019s problems\u201d.<\/p>\n

Intellectual property and profit<\/strong><\/h4>\n

To better understand how EdTech providers work, consider the plagiarism-detection company\u00a0Turnitin<\/a>, used by\u00a020,000 institutions in 185 countries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Student essays are intellectual property (IP). According to university policy, students and universities have a shared licence over any IP written by students.<\/p>\n

But when teachers require students to upload their essays to Turnitin, students must\u00a0grant the company<\/a>\u00a0a \u201cnon-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable licence\u201d to use their IP.<\/p>\n

Turnitin adds those essays to its massive database, which it uses to build its plagiarism detection tool. The tool \u2013 built with student IP \u2013 is then sold back to universities so educators can police student writing in the name of academic integrity.<\/p>\n

After 20 years of growth with this business model, Turnitin was\u00a0bought in 2019<\/a>\u00a0by Advance Publications for US$1.75 billion. On Twitter (now X), higher education researcher\u00a0Jesse Stommel asked<\/a>: \u201cHow much of that $1.75B do you think is going to the students who have fed their database for years? I have a pretty good guess: zero billion.\u201d<\/p>\n

By claiming ownership over student IP, Turnitin also profits from Indigenous students\u2019 ideas. But this threatens\u00a0Indigenous data sovereignty<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 that data produced by or about Indigenous communities should be governed by those communities.
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Turnitin to Be Acquired by Advance Publications for $1.75B.<\/p>\n

So, that's what all that student Intellectual property is worth. How much of that $1.75B do you think is going to the students who have fed their database for years? I have a pretty good guess: zero billion. https:\/\/t.co\/GMr89oseS9<\/a><\/p>\n

— Jesse Stommel (@Jessifer) March 6, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n