National Coding Week highlights growing AI role in education

The annual National Coding Week recently took place, with this year's theme focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI). The event aimed to highlight the significance of coding skills and their central role in today's digital landscape, encompassing areas such as app development, website design, data analysis, and task automation.

Dr. Rashmi Mantri, Managing Director of the British Youth International College, emphasised the importance of equipping future generations with AI skills to ensure their success in forthcoming careers. She noted, "AI is the new reality… it was imperative that we give the coming generations the skills they would need not only to survive, but to thrive."

There has been an ongoing debate within the technology sector regarding the implications of AI on traditional coding roles. Some experts suggested that AI's capacity to write complete computer programs might render human coders obsolete. However, Dr. Mantri offered a different perspective, suggesting that the creative and problem-solving facets of programming would continue to rely on human expertise. She stated, "It is more likely to be the case that the creative, problem-solving aspect of programming will remain an essentially human endeavour as AI – for the foreseeable future, at least – enables smart people to write more code, faster."

National Coding Week sought to foster an understanding that coding represented not just a technical skill but a methodical way of thinking, crucial for solving complex problems and navigating technological challenges. The event underscored the notion that those proficient in these skills would only become more integral to technological progress, especially as they assumed roles providing architectural vision and direction.

Dr. Mantri advocated for a robust integration of AI and technology into educational curriculums to prepare future workforces. "The first step on that journey was clearly to embed educators in the process and make every effort to ensure that AI and technology – obviously including coding, computational thinking and data literacy – were an integral part of the curriculum in schools across the country," she explained.

The British Youth International College made strides in promoting this vision, notably through the introduction of Olivia, one of the UK's first AI-powered online teaching assistants. Olivia, an AI-driven avatar designed to assist with mathematics homework, interacted with students, providing help at their convenience. This innovation supported the delivery of Supermaths, the college's most popular teaching app, and garnered considerable attention and user engagement.

The UK government also recognised the value of AI in education, initiating a GBP £4 million project to enhance the reliability and utility of AI tools for teachers in England. This initiative involved using government documents, curriculum guidance, lesson plans, and anonymised pupil assessments to train AI technologies to generate accurate and high-quality educational content.

Dr. Mantri pointed out that integrating AI in education extended beyond technical deployment, necessitating the cultivation of ethically aware professionals. These individuals would need to address various moral and societal challenges associated with AI, including issues of bias, fairness, transparency, privacy, security, employability, and societal impact. She observed, "As AI systems made decisions and predictions, they could sometimes produce outcomes that raised concerns about bias, fairness, transparency, privacy, security, employability, and the shaping of future societies."

As society entered an increasingly complex technological environment, the importance of equipping future generations with the skills to navigate this landscape became paramount. Dr. Mantri reinforced this sentiment: "It was increasingly imperative that we gave the coming generations the tools and the intellectual skills to navigate them."