https://doi.org/10.53656/str2024-5s-5-com

Резюме. Intelligent computer systems have indeed experienced rapid development in recent years. The penetration of artificial intelligence in almost all spheres will certainly change some professions. In the educational sphere for the use of the artificial intelligence are also required new digital competencies and skills that must be mastered by teachers in order to be successfully used for learning and teaching. А comparative analysis with various indicators of popular intelligent computing systems are made in the report and the possibilities for their use in the educational process are discussed. The results from study of readiness and attitude to use artificial intelligence systems of professors, teachers, students and doctoral students are presented. The results of the survey, which confirm the need to raise awareness of the possibilities of AI and to conduct more practical training to acquire digital competences and skills to use AI in education, are discussed in the paper.

Ключови думи: intelligent computer systems; artificial intelligence; digital competences; education

1. Introduction

Intelligent computer systems will certainly change the work environment and lead to the disappearance of some traditional professions. New jobs will emerge and will require new digital competences and skills. For example, in the field of autonomous and robotic systems development (Kunze et al. 2018; Chen, et al. 2022), we will need engineers and technicians to design, install, maintain and operate these systems. In the fields of e-commerce, we will need software engineers to use artificial intelligence to personalize customer offers and predict their behaviour (Khrais 2020; Kalia 2021). In medicine, artificial intelligence will be used to diagnose diseases, to plan treatment and to manage hospitals (Lee et al. 2021). As a result of digitalization and the implementation of artificial intelligence, students will be trained for new professions (Ivanova 2023; Shaukat 2020; Hristov 2023), such as: machine learning engineer, data scientist, robotics specialist.

In the educational sphere, the use of artificial intelligence will also require new skills that must be mastered by teachers and students in order to successfully use AI for learning and teaching (Liua et al.; Ahmad 2021). Teachers and students need to be taught new kinds of skills, such as how to effectively use semantics in artificial intelligence [Baeva et al., 2019] using better communication with AI and learn how to implement prompt engineering (Eager 2023; Spasić 2023).

2. Comparative analysis of popular systems with AI

А comparative analysis with various indicators of popular AI chat bots are made in Table 1.

3. Applications of AI in education

Applications of using AI in the educational process are discussed for students, teachers and schools. For students: Personalized learning - individual study with own pace and with appropriate study materials, considering own strengths and weaknesses to improve specific achievements; Adaptive learning – optimizing education resources and supporting fast education process; Fast and automate assessment feedback – faster and accurate student assessment with possibility to compare and analyse students’ achievements; Virtual classes with AI – AI can be used for online education facilitating the perception of complex concepts, planning the educational process in time and etc.

For teachers: Creating learning materials – generating a lesson plan, generating learning content on specific topics from the curricula, etc.; Personalization of learning materials – for learners with specific educational needs (SEN), for advanced learners, personalized testing, etc.; Detection of grammatical and stylistic errors in the study material – correction of texts, students essay review with AI; Assisting with administrative work – generating a scenario for a holidays in schools, generating templates for emails to parents on various occasions (parent meeting and etc.); Structuring and summarizing a large volume of educational material – extracting keywords, classifying information in tables, etc.; Clarification of new terms with concrete definitions and examples, clarification of case studies; Test questions and tests generator based on a large volume of study material – group and individual tasks on specific topics, etc; Help with critical analysis of educational texts – assessment criteria advices.

For schools and universities: Smart classrooms – adaptable environment and access for students with SEN helping them to find things and places in the classroom with many sensors, with many possibilities for interactions with students and teachers; Smart buildings – saving energy resources, more efficient use of building space, improving students and staff safety.

4. Survey Results

A survey has been created to provide the current research with results data for readiness and attitude to use artificial intelligence systems of more than 500 participants: professors, teachers, students and doctoral students. Survey respondents are as follows: 242 school teachers (47,5 %), 136 university professors (26,7%), 52 students and pupils (10,2%), 27 doctoral students (5,3%) and 57 others. 49% of survey respondents answer that they did not use artificial intelligence, only 18% answer that they used to use AI every day and consulting with it (Fig.1). Fig. 2 shows that 67% of those respondents who use AI prefer using ChatGPT.

Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 presents comparative analysis with students and teachers’ responses. Only 30 % of students on Fig.3 response that they do not use AI, while the percentage of teachers who do not use AI is bigger – 55%. On Fig. 4 38% of those students’ respondents who use AI prefer Google Bard/Gemini, while 37% of teachers who use AI prefer ChatGPT.

On Fig. 5 246 respondents have positive attitude towards using artificial intelligence systems to improve learning and teaching and only 117 respondents have a negative attitude.

The results on Fig.6 shows that 37% of the respondents do not have a firm opinion, most likely due to a low level of awareness about the capabilities of AI.

The data from Fig. 7 indicate that 424 out of 523 (87%) respondents feel they need training. This clearly shows the acute need for training professionals on how to properly use AI in their practical work. The results from Fig. 7 also confirm the conclusion drawn from the data in Fig. 6, that respondents need more awareness about the capabilities of AI.

Fig. 8 presents results about which capabilities of AI respondents would use.

258 respondents on Fig. 8 will use AI possibilities of creating educational content. 249 will use possibilities of obtaining consultations and additional study materials. 234 prefer to use AI for personalized training and instruction.

5. Conclusions

The conclusions that can be summarized from the analysis of the results of the conducted survey among over 500 professors, teachers and students are:

– Only 18 % of survey respondents use AI almost every day, but 49 percent say they have not used AI. The comparative analysis shows that students more often use AI than teachers. The results of the survey confirm the need to raise awareness of the possibilities of AI and to conduct more practical training to students and teachers to acquire digital competences and skills to use AI in education process;

– The most preferred AI system to use among respondents was ChatGPT, followed by Bing/Copilot. The least popular among respondents is Bard/Gemini. The comparative analysis shows that students prefer Google Bard/ Gemini, while teachers prefer ChatGPT.

– 48% of respondents have a positive attitude towards the use of AI in education, only 23% have a negative attitude. Artificial Intelligence is still developing in an educational context, and like every new technology that develops, it is important to be used in the classroom under the supervision of educators. Artificial intelligence should be used as advisor and should not be given a controlling role in our life.

– Based on all the responses on Fig.6, it can be concluded that there is no clearly formed opinion among those interviewed, most likely because these technologies

are too new and unfamiliar to the majority of the respondents.

– All respondents in survey indicated that they needed additional training. The most requested trainings indicated by the respondents are related to AI capabilities for creating educational content, processing and evaluating educational materials, opportunities for creating presentations.

Artificial intelligence can have many applications in education. It can help personalize the educational process by adapting learning material according to the specific needs and preferences of learners. This can significantly improve learners results and increase their motivation to study.

Acknowledgments & Funding

This study is financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Republic of Bulgaria, project № BG-RRP-2.013-0001-C01.

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