2 Capabilities, Benefits, and Drawbacks
What can AI tools do well, and what are their limitations?
This chapter explores:
- capabilities and uses of generative AI tools;
- benefits of AI tools in education;
- drawbacks and limitations of AI tools.
Capabilities of AI Tools
As introduced in What is Generative AI?, AI tools can accept input from users in the form of text, audio, video, and images in order to:
- generate text, including essays, reports, stories, and correspondence that reasonably replicates human writing;
- review documents in order to find information, summarize, analyze, or give feedback;
- analyze large amounts of data to identify trends and patterns;
- translate between languages or regional dialects;
- produce, debug, and optimize computer code in a variety of languages;
- generate graphics and illustrations;
- create audio content including voice, music, and sound effects;
- create original video content, as a standalone video or to extend an existing video.
Some of these outputs are not possible with all types of input (text, audio, video, and images), however the capabilities of AI tools continue to broaden.
Dreams, a poem by IN-Q, accompanied by a video created by Wayne Price using OpenAI’s Sora.
Benefits of AI Use in Education
This section provides a high-level overview of some benefits of AI in education. Each section links to a relevant chapter for further reading.
Benefits for Students
AI tools can act as a 24/7 personalized tutor, which can supply students with practice questions or give feedback on student work. When course and institutional policies allow, AI tools can also be used by students to assist with aspects of assignments that are time consuming but have limited learning potential, in order to focus more on higher value learning opportunities. AI tools can also power interactive and immersive simulations that allow students to practice real-world tasks and get feedback. A number of studies on student engagement with AI tools have reported increases in student motivation, engagement, happiness, and achievement when AI tools are integrated with coursework.[1] Additionally, learning how to use AI tools effectively and responsibly prepares students to use AI in the workforce. For more information, see the Using AI to Enhance Student Learning chapter.
Benefits for Instructional Staff
For instructional staff at educational institutions, AI tools have the potential to help with prep and administrative tasks, including lesson planning, idea generation, editing, and assessment development. This kind of AI-based ‘cognitive offloading’ can result in a more manageable workload, better work-life balance, and increased job satisfaction, as well as more working hours available for student contact and support, updating and enhancing curriculum, and continuous learning. For more information, see the Using AI to Enhance Student Learning chapter as well as each chapter in the Practical Uses for Preparatory and Administrative Wo