Artificial intelligence's impact on education is drawing mixed reaction, with the revolutionary technology viewed as both a threat and an aid to learning, a US poll has found.
The survey by Quinnipiac University asked people if they thought college students are more likely to use AI to help them learn or to help them avoid learning.
About 42 per cent said college students are more likely to use AI to help them learn, while 47 per cent believed they more likely to use AI to help them avoid learning.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents said it was important for students to be taught about the latest AI tools.
“At the same time, they are sceptical about AI’s impact on students’ ability to learn and how institutions may use AI,” a summary of the poll reads.
Younger individuals appeared more cynical that AI would be used to enhance learning.
“Who is most sceptical about the merits of having AI provide a learning assist? By age, the generation most likely to be familiar with the workings of AI in the classroom,” said Tim Malloy, a polling analyst for Quinnipiac University.
The findings follow a previous Quinnipiac survey finding more than three-quarters of people born between 1997 and 2008 had concerns about AI and its impact on job opportunities.
Recent AI polls measure enthusiasm and investments
Across the board, there was little optimism about AI among most of those polled.
The recent Quinnipiac findings echo similar polls over the last year, which show people in the US are significantly more worried about AI when compared to other countries, while at the same time readily admitting to using various AI tools on a daily basis.
Many of the global concerns about AI revolve around the potential for the technology to disrupt the labour market and cause a surge in unemployment.
Even the staunchest proponents of unregulated AI development and research have pointed out that it could be a disruptive force for jobs.
Other worries, meanwhile revolve around AI's enormous energy needs, which have caused increases in electricity prices throughout the US and sparked environmental concerns.
According to a newly released AI Index Report conducted by Stanford University, only 31 per cent of US residents surveyed by Ipsos had confidence the government could properly regulate AI.
That's in stark contrast to Singapore, where 81 per cent of those polled expressed confidence in their government's ability to blunt AI's potential negative impacts.
That same Stanford analysis found that the UAE, Singapore, Norway, Ireland and France have some of the highest levels of AI diffusion, which is broadly defined as the population's embrace and adaptation to various AI tools.
The US however, was ranked 26.
“Even as usage grows, the United States remains in the lower half of the global adoption ranking, in line with the more cautious public mood towards AI,” the Stanford report read.
Stanford pointed out, however, that recent data indicated that the US was, by far, in the top spot compared to other countries in terms of AI inventions and researchers, followed by India, Germany, UK, Canada and France.
Despite many polls showing AI anxiety in the US, Stanford also indicated that the country also leads the way in “newly funded AI companies by geographic area”.
