South Korea is set to introduce artificial intelligence-powered textbooks into its schools starting in March next year in a move toward digital education, with some people saying it is a true "education transformation" and others seeing it simply as a new tool.

The initiative will begin with third and fourth graders in elementary schools and first-year students in middle and high schools.

Neil Selwyn, a professor at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and a researcher on the intersection of digital technology and education, warned that the excitement around AI textbooks might be a part of a larger "hype bubble" that could eventually burst.

It could leave behind unsolved challenges, he said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul.

South Korea's latest digital project is ambitious. It involves a $70 million investment in digital infrastructure and AI textbooks, in part with an initiative dubbed the "classroom revolution", which in whole was allocated over $276 million in the budget for school digitalization.

The government's goals are clear: to create a more personalized learning experience, collect data to improve educational outcomes and establish South Korea as a global leader in AI education.

While South Korea's vision is ambitious, Selwyn questioned whether it marks a true revolution or just updates the tools for traditional learning.

"We're at the top of the hype cycle," he said. He suggested that schools are unlikely to be transformed by AI.

"Students will still come into a school, sit behind a desk, and have a 50-minute lesson about maths or English. The only difference is they'll be sat in front of a computer… It's surface-level digitization."

Selwyn said what schools need is a better environment, not a revolution.

"There's nothing wrong with keeping schools as they are," he said. "They just need to be better places, more inclusive, and less stressful for both students and teachers. If technology can help achieve that, then it's doing its job."

The AI boom brings realistic challenges, he emphasized. Ensuring sufficient equipment and stable networks in schools is one aspect, but the inequality AI can perpetuate in education is another.

If not designed carefully, AI may worsen existing inequalities as technologies often reflect societal divisions.

For instance, AI systems trained on biased historical data may favor privileged students, such as those from elite groups, while disadvantaging marginalized students.

Selwyn noted that AI tools for grading or admissions can carry biases, leading to discriminatory outcomes. He cited findings showing that AI systems detecting cheating are twice as likely to wrongly accuse black students compared to white students in the United States.

The current excitement around AI in education could be just another tech bubble, similar to past trends like the metaverse or massive open online courses, which failed to live up to their transformative promises, he said.

Persuasion needed

Hurdles remain for the government to persuade parents as well. In a petition posted on the South Korean National Assembly's online platform in May, one request asked for the AI digital textbook implementation plan to be shelved, citing numerous negative effects of smart devices and calling for more research to ensure the change benefits students not just academically but in terms of their overall development.

The petition was formally submitted to the assembly's education committee on June 26 after garnering public support from 56,505 people within a month.

Teachers have also voiced concerns as they have yet to see the actual digital textbooks that are to be put into practice within just six months.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Seoul Teachers' Union of 1,794 teachers who attended the AI textbook training session, 94 percent of respondents disagreed on the need to introduce AI textbooks.

A bill has been proposed for the AI digital textbooks to be utilized as "educational materials" rather than "textbooks". While textbooks are mandatory for schools to use, schools can decide at their discretion whether or not to utilize educational materials.

Representative Ko Min-jung introduced a bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to upgrade the definition and scope of textbooks from a presidential decree to a law, and to define "learning support software using intelligent information technology (AI digital textbooks)" as "educational materials" that can be used by school principals after deliberation by the school management committee, rather than as textbooks.

"AI textbooks that have not been tested for effectiveness should not be used in schools immediately," said Ko, emphasizing that the amendment should be passed in the current session of the National Assembly as a minimum safeguard to prevent the chaos and aftermath of introducing AI textbooks.

THE KOREA HERALD, SOUTH KOREA