City MP Stephen Morgan has announced a new project today that will enhance AI’s ability to assist teachers in Portsmouth and across the country in marking work and planning lessons.
The project, backed by £4 million of government investment, will bring teachers and tech companies together to develop and use trustworthy AI tools that can help mark homework and save teachers time.
Mr Morgan, the Minister for Early Education, announced the project today during a speech to international education ministers at the Global Education Innovation Summit (GEIS) in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
The three-day event, on the theme of “classroom revolution led by teachers with AI” will see the launch of the Global Education and Innovation Alliance, of which the UK will be of the founding members.
Mr Morgan told the delegation the world-leading initiative will mark the first government-approved store of high-quality education material optimised for AI product development and will stimulate the production of safe, legally compliant, evidence-based tools, relevant to our teachers’ needs.
Morgan will also meet education technology companies before setting out clear expectations for the safety of AI products for education.
To encourage AI companies to make use of the datastore, a share of an additional £1 million will be awarded to those who bring forward the best ideas to put the data into practice to reduce teacher workload.
Almost half of teachers are already using AI to help with their work, according to a survey from TeacherTapp, but current AI tools are not specifically trained on the documents setting out how teaching should work in England.
It comes as new research shows parents want teachers to use generative AI to enable them to have more time helping children in the classroom with face-to-face teaching – supporting the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
Commenting, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said:
“We are determined to break down the barriers to opportunity to ensure every child in Portsmouth and across the country can get the best possible education – and that includes access to the best tech innovations for all.
“Artificial Intelligence, when made safe and reliable, represents an exciting opportunity to give our schools leaders and teachers a helping hand with classroom life.
“Today’s world-leading announcement marks a huge step forward for AI in the classroom. This investment will allow us to safely harness the power of tech to make it work for our hard-working teachers, easing the pressures and workload burdens we know are facing the profession and freeing up time, allowing them to focus on face-to-face teaching.”
Science Secretary Peter Kyle said:
“We know teachers work tirelessly to go above and beyond for their students.
“By making AI work for them, this project aims to ease admin burdens and help them deliver creative and inspiring lessons every day, while reducing time pressures they face.
“This is the first of many projects that will transform how we see and use public sector data. We will put the information we hold to work, using it in a safe and responsible way to reduce waiting lists, cut backlogs and improve outcomes for citizens across the country.”
