'AI Shouldn't Trigger Cognitive Surrender'

'My suggestion to Nandan Nilekani is that it would be worthwhile for him to take a holistic review in a manner in which examination is just one critical component.'

N K Singh, former chairman of the fifteenth Finance Commission, on Thursday said the Nandan Nilekani-led panel on examination reforms should take a holistic view of India's education ecosystem, with exams being treated as only one component.

Speaking at the 10th CII School Education Summit, Singh said Nilekani should look beyond examination procedures and entrance tests and consider wider changes in education, including the impact of artificial intelligence.

"My suggestion to Nandan Nilekani is that it would be worthwhile for him to take a holistic review in a manner in which examination is just one critical component. He has to consider the entire altered ecosystem of education, including impact of use of AI in education and so on," Singh said.

NEP In The AI Age

Singh, who is also president of the Institute of Economic Growth, said the National Education Policy (NEP) should not be treated as 'cast in stone' and urged the reform task force to also look at revising the NEP based on evolving challenges in the education sector.

"He (Nilekani) should look at the issue more holistically, including the NEP and what kind of education policy will be relevant for India in the AI age."

AI And Cognitive Surrender

He raised concerns about the AI impact on children's cognitive abilities, questioning if excessive reliance on the technology could lead to "cognitive surrender".

NTA Reform Task Force

The Centre had in July set up the six-member high-powered task force headed by Nilekani to undertake a comprehensive review of the public examination system and recommend reforms, including to the functioning of the National Testing Agency.

The panel was constituted following a series of controversies and concerns over the conduct of competitive examinations, including the Neet paper leak this year.

Singh also raised concerns about the impact of AI on children's cognitive abilities, questioning whether excessive reliance on the technology could lead to "cognitive surrender".

He said there was a need to ensure that children and young people continued to develop their ability to think creatively and perform basic tasks independently.

Instead, he said AI should be harnessed as a "force multiplier" to reduce mechanical tasks while preserving and strengthening the ability of young minds to think innovatively.

The challenge, he said, was to ensure that greater use of AI did not result in a decline in cognitive abilities.

Language Skills Need Attention

Speaking at the same panel, V K Shunglu, chairman of the Delhi Public School Society and former comptroller and auditor general of India, said teaching methods in schools had not kept pace with the shift towards more analytical examination questions, keeping in line with the NEP.

He added that questions in the Central Board of Secondary Education's examinations had progressively become more analytical, in line with the NEP, while schools had not yet fully adapted their teaching methods to this shift.

Shunglu said AI could be useful in developing question banks, particularly for subjects such as physics and mathematics, where questions need to change regularly.

He added that AI could help change a portion of questions each year while allowing students to develop cognitive and analytical skills.

However, he flagged language proficiency as a major challenge, saying students could struggle with analytical questions if they lacked a strong understanding of English.

"We have neglected the language space," he said.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff