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Lo Hoi-ying

The education sector should embrace artificial intelligence (AI) to improve productivity, the founder of the Hong Kong-based global philanthropic foundation Yidan Prize Foundation has said, while reassuring teachers that technology will not replace their skills.
Charles Chen Yidan, a co-founder of technology conglomerate Tencent, said on Tuesday that educators should use AI to their advantage, given its inevitable impact on schools and learning.
“We should be cautious and not only be in awe of AI products and turn a generation into guinea pigs of the technology, but actively embrace and monitor the outcomes,” he said. “We should experiment and explore the tool to derive joy and improvements to our productivity.”
He was speaking at a panel on education at the Hong Kong Metropolitan University with president Paul Lam Kwan-sing.
Chen left Tencent in 2013 and founded his philanthropic foundation in 2016.
Widely regarded as the world’s highest education accolade, the Yidan Prize Foundation recognises individuals and teams who have made outstanding contributions to improving education.
Each laureate or winning team receives a cash prize of HK$15 million (US$1.93 billion) and another HK$15 million in project funding to help scale up the work.
This year’s award went to War Child Alliance, which has supported more than 200,000 children in Chad, Jordan, Lebanon, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Uganda and Ukraine through its programme which uses digital technology to turn educational curricula into games and bring personalised literacy and numeracy skills to pupils in war zones.
The alliance earlier said it was assessing the situation in Syria, where it planned to expand the programme to more children whose studies were disrupted by the violence.

Chen said AI had already become part of the education system by helping students learn new languages, write and edit, helping them to learn at their own pace and assisting teachers in preparing for classes and marking assignments.
“These services are already being commercialised, while some schools are also embracing AI as a tool, upheaving the entire education system,” he said. “Schools, educators and individuals should embrace it as AI not only helps to improve oneself but also helps with career advancement.”
He gave an example of the Khan Academy, which jumped on the technology to roll out its educational AI tool, Khanamigo.
“Khanamigo will help you get to the answer,” he said. “It won’t provide the answer to you immediately but trains you to derive the answer on your own and even encourages you to learn by playing word games.”
But he sought to reassure the audience that AI would not replace the education system, which is based on human capital.
“Technology can simplify procedures and reduce points of contact for industries like telecommunications and commerce, but not education,” he said.
“It improved efficiency, like the use of massive open online classes, and also for administrative work, but it does not change the structure of the education system.
“The biggest player in this system is the stakeholders, including the students, parents, school administration and staff – these people are very important to the system.”
He added: “To me, education is the cornerstone of civilisation. Education improves productivity and is the mechanism for civilisation. If this society falls ill, education is the cure, and educators are doctors.”


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Charles Chen Yidan at a panel on education at the Hong Kong Metropolitan University. Photo: Eugene Lee

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News

Hong Kong

Education

Tencent co-founder Charles Chen Yidan calls on educators to explore how AI can improve not only learning but also their own skills


Tencent co-founder Charles Chen Yidan calls on educators to explore how AI can improve not only learning but also their own skills.


Hong Kong society