Experts Identify Key Challenges in the Digitalization of Education

The discussion was moderated by Anna Abramova, Director of the MGIMO AI Centre, Academic Director of the Master’s Programme in Artificial Intelligence and a member of the High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence. She noted that AI is not only a useful tool but also brings new risks, and that it is important to understand where its benefits end and potential harm begins.

Evgeny Tonkikh, Deputy Head of the Telecommunications Research Center’s Telecom Department, identified a lack of infrastructure and access to technology, a shortage of teachers with relevant expertise, and a mismatch between educational programs and the needs of the economy as the main barriers to the digitalization of education. “The education system is fairly rigid and fixed, while digitalization is changing the pace at which things move,” he explained.

Mahefa Andriamampiadanа, Minister of Digital Development, Digital Transformation, Posts and Telecommunications of the Republic of Madagascar, shared his experience, outlining the country’s priorities for digitalization:

“We need to start with access to infrastructure. We also need to work on narrowing the digital divide. The second priority is skills and human capacity – that is what creates opportunities. The next priority is relevance. Our students should not forget their own language and knowledge while relying on AI. We would like to develop international solutions and adapt them to the realities of Madagascar. Another priority is sovereignty. It is not about what our partners can offer Madagascar, but what Madagascar will be able to do when those partners leave our market. Sovereignty does not mean isolation!”

Pavel Klepinin, Vice-Rector for IT and Digital Technologies at RANEPA, outlined his vision of the additional skills Russia’s higher education system should provide students and what AI will never be able to do:

“First, we need to include training in how to work with AI in our programs and not forget about security. The second point is teaching critical thinking. The main risk for humanity is that a generation raised with AI could lose the ability to think critically. Another issue is that neural networks learn from what has already been created, so all breakthroughs and new ideas must remain a human quality. I would also single out ethics and values. AI is highly pragmatic and makes decisions without taking human ethical considerations into account. What will be left for people? Clearly, socialization and the ability to interact with one another in a human environment. Another very important point is “People’s Attitude Toward the State and Society” – this also includes patriotism. I hope AI never learns this, while we already have it.”

According to Klepinin, RANEPA is running several AI projects. They include Cyber Professor, which incorporates libraries from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration and Sber, as well as a conversational simulator that helps students improve their negotiation skills. AI is also involved in assessing learning outcomes.

Elizaveta Tikhonova, Partner and Director of Communications at Startech.vc and founder of the Startech.Awards, said that in the age of artificial intelligence, students also need additional encouragement to pursue entrepreneurship and compete for their target audiences. Many young people currently lack this drive. According to Tikhonova, talented students who are eager to develop technology products may be surprised when they enter the real market and discover that they themselves have to work to understand what customers want.

Igor Vokhmintsev, Visiting Lecturer at the Laboratory for International Trends in Artificial Intelligence Development, Faculty of Computer Science, Department of Big Data and Information Retrieval at HSE University, pointed to another challenge in teaching people how to work with neural networks:

“Today, learning how to work with AI often comes down to learning how to formulate the right prompt. That is a useful skill, but it is not enough. The main task is to give people an understanding of the digital environment in which AI operates. Otherwise, people do not know what they can ask the system. When working with a neural network, a person may not even know that a particular way of solving a problem exists. The dialogue window makes the problem worse: I ask a question, the system gives me an answer, and it creates the impression that this is the full extent of what AI can do.”

Wrapping up the discussion, the experts concluded that the digitalization of education is a complex, multidimensional issue with far-reaching implications. To study it more effectively, all these aspects need to be discussed with representatives of different countries, particularly at the BRICS level. Sharing the experience of experts from different countries can then help develop joint solutions.