Artificial Intelligence in Education: Fears and Faiths

Artificial Intelligence (AI) aims to develop models with human-like cognitive functions. Since its conception in the mid-50s, it has achieved big success in almost all areas and domains, starting from games to autonomous robotic surgery, and it is evolving rapidly. Indeed, AI-based machines pervade all domains and it is used for many purposes. In developing countries, it is widely used in almost all everyday life tasks. Yet, the idea that machines can act as humans and make decisions on behalf of individuals scares many people and raises many concerns and controversies. This tends to be the case in Morocco as well. Over the past few years, AI has made its way in the field of education and it is revolutionizing it. In this survey study, we probed the opinions of Moroccans about AI and their fears and hopes towards AI and its use in education. The majority of the respondents to the survey expressed serious worries about the future of using AI, especially in the early childhood education. Nevertheless, they seem to be rather cautiously optimistic about using AI in providing technical assistance in teaching-related tasks.