The session ‘Shaping young minds with AI’ on day three of RAISE 2020 addressed directly the impact of proliferation of EdTech and AI in our daily lives. Hosted by Ms. Jyoti Arora, Special Secretary and Financial Adviser, MeitY, the session saw four keynote speeches by:

• Mr. David Kenney, CEO and CDO, Nielsen
• Mr. Vishal Sikka, Board of Directors, Oracle; Founder and CEO, Vianai Systems Inc.
• Dr. Roger Schank, CEO, Socratic Arts
• Mr. Anthony Salcito, VP, Worldwide Education, Microsoft

The session then advanced into a panel discussion moderated by Mr. Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, FICCI. The panel consisted of:

• Ms. Mala Sharma, VP and GM, Creative Cloud Product, Marketing and Community, Adobe
• Mr. Larry Nelson, Asia Regional Business Lead, Education, Microsoft
• Ms. Aditi Avasthi, Founder and CEO, Embibe

The final part of the session consisted of demos of two EdTech offerings:

• Minecraft Education, represented by Ms. Susie Tinker, Customer and Partner Engagement Manager
• Embibe, represented by Ms. Aditi Avasthi, Founder and CEO

David Kenny put forth an interesting idea in his keynote in suggesting combined role of media and AI for driving education and skilling. Given the long hours that Indians spend on their smartphones and other devices each day, combined with the understanding of how they spend this time facilitated by deep learning models used by companies like Nielsen, he suggested “the right programming of educational content” and “using entertainment for retention.”

Vishal Sikka sent out an inspirational message to the Indian youth, encouraging them to invent and innovate using AI, to “develop the ability to see what is not there” and to “have the conviction of bringing it to life.” Pointing to the immense opportunities that lie in the field of AI, he added, “We have a new generation of people who aren’t afraid of AI. India is uniquely suited because of our emphasis on software and our cultural emphasis on education.”

Dr. Roger Schank pointed out the fundamental flaws in systems of formal education, presenting a strong case for personalised education enabled by AI, saying “What there is to do in education is understand and identify who are you dealing with.” He dismissed the test-dominated, one-size-fits-all education system as ancient and obsolete, adding that students should be encouraged to tinker with what they’re really passionate about because they “learn by doing.”

Anthony Salcito addressed the fears of teachers as we shift to digital learning environments, saying that the teachers’ role was enhanced rather than diminished as “educators play a vital role in inspiring and coaching students.” On the growing adoption of EdTech and AI in education, he said that, “Learning needs to be in the hands of individuals and not institutions.” He emphasised the importance of ethics while using powerful technologies such as AI.

In the following panel discussion, Mala Sharma spoke on the importance of creativity in education and the role that AI plays in democratising creativity. She shared Adobe’s vision for leveraging AI for document productivity and powering digital businesses, and talked about Adobe Sensei among other initiatives of the tech company. Larry Nelson hailed India’s focus on tech education and learning in the National Education Policy 2020, and reiterated the need for responsible AI by sharing Microsoft’s six principles of responsible AI such as fairness, inclusiveness, accountability etc. He spoke about the Microsoft AI Classroom series launched in association with NASSCOM and Futureskills to develop the tech skills among India’s students. Aditi Avasthi spoke about the need to shift focus of education on developing the 21st century skills such as problem solving and coding, and to make accessible and affordable tools that can enable this transition.

Responsible AI for Social Empowerment, RAISE 2020, is a virtual AI summit from 5-9 October 2020.