Metro Manila (CNN Philipines, September 21) — Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday said artificial intelligence (AI) may present uncertainties in the education sector, urging leaders and experts to consider the effects of technology on the development of learners.
In her keynote speech at the 2023 Global Education and Innovation Summit held in Seoul, South Korea, Duterte said she observed that education “must now exist side by side with technology, which continues to grow at an astoundingly rapid pace.”
“We now live in an era where undeniably, technology must be harnessed to improve access, quality, and equality in education and the advent of artificial intelligence will certainly create another paradigm shift in education,” she said.
“While this possibility will present newer and greater opportunities, it will also present many uncertainties in our vision of digital education,” she added.
WATCH: The future of learning with artificial intelligence
Duterte, who concurrently serves as the Philippine education secretary, shared with summit participants that while editing her speech on Wednesday night, she told her colleague to use AI instead because of the possible lack of time.
She continued: “And then my colleague said, ‘Sshh, someone might hear you.’ It appeared to me that AI evokes shame, evokes fear because of the unknown.”
The vice president said there must be “paramount consideration” in using technology for education, citing it must wrap around critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.
Duterte, who is also the president of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Council, said experts should be responsive to the effects of new technology in education systems, adding that its adaptability and sustainability must be studied by the end users before implementation.
“This means recognizing quickly what is not working and change it, to continuously improve even if it is a success and to always keep in mind that the most important result is not the technology itself, but how it affects the development of our learners,” she added.
She also noted that educators must teach students how to make sense of information that has become readily available due to changes in technology, stressing that “critical thinking has become more important than ever.”
“It is equally important to teach children how to differentiate truthful information from the untrue, to know what contributes to a learner’s development and what does not, and what will instill in them the correct values that will turn them into productive citizens of their respective countries,” she said.
Aside from emerging technologies, Duterte said the threat of disruption in education has “greatly affected” learning in the past two decades.
She used as an example the COVID-19 pandemic, which she said was a “horrific” disruption in education as it kept students away from school environments that foster independent thought and social interactions.
Duterte also met with South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho to discuss issues including education.
