ALEA IACTA EST: WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR TEACHING PROFESSIONALS IN ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE MEDIATED EDUCATION?

The 4th Industrial Revolution, or more widely known as Industry 4.0, is bringing about profound social, economic, and political changes due to the exponential rate of development of digital technologies and especially of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Against this backdrop, during the last decade, technological advancements have drastically transformed the nature of education, affecting both its content and the way it is delivered. These developments, in combination with the conditions that arose during the Covid-19 pandemic, enforcing an urgent shift to distance learning, have formulated a novel context within which all stakeholders in the field of education must be adjusted to. Artificial Intelligence refers to those systems that simulate human intelligence and perform complex tasks with the help of algorithms and neural networks, while making it possible for the system itself to learn and adapt its responses. Highlighting the advantages and realizing the potential of AI systems, research is increasingly drawing on the applications they can have in education and in the improvement of the learning process. Recent research data are quite intriguing, indicating improvement in learning outcomes, increase in productive learning time, enhancement of experiential learning and adaptation to the learners’ individualized needs. Within this context and with an eye towards the future, the present paper attempts to highlight the role of teachers and adult educators, the skills they must develop, as well as the challenges they have to tackle, so as to be able to initially comprehend, and at a second level to integrate AI applications in their teaching practice. Alea iacta est: it is evident that all previous knowledge regarding technology is no longer sufficient, with AI-mediated education requiring novel skills and competences to manage and exploit data, to collaborate effectively with systems and learners, as well as to develop appropriate educational materials.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0799/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>