Author: Prof. Dr. Khalid Khan
(Acting President, College of Computing & Information Sciences, KIET)
Introduction
AI is a powerful tool that is gradually revolutionizing the learning sector through offering new instrumentations that help in teaching and learning activities. This tenth advancement applies to language education, where the role of AI is becoming more critical. In the case of language acquisition, the use of AI offers an adaptable character to assist students and optimize their learning experience by means of accurate feedback as well as immediate assessment and tools.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the forefront of this educational revolution, serving as a transformative technology that holds the potential to redefine how students learn and teachers instruct. AI can analyze vast amounts of data to gain insights into student behavior and performance, enabling educators to create customized learning pathways. From intelligent tutoring systems that provide real-time feedback to predictive analytics that identify at-risk students, AI empowers educational institutions to enhance their effectiveness and efficiency. As KSA embraces this technology, the opportunity to revolutionize the educational experience is more tangible than ever.
AI in Higher Education
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education with a concomitant proliferation of new AI tools available. Scholars report on the affordances of AI to both instructors and students in HE. These benefits include the use of AI in HE to adapt instruction to the needs of different types of learners, in providing customized prompt feedback, in developing assessments, and predict academic success. These studies help to inform educators about how artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) can be used in higher education.
The higher education community Is still looking for common ground on how AI should and should not be used for learning and work. Respondents were asked to describe both appropriate and inappropriate uses of AI in higher education. In general, respondents emphasized the ethical and transparent use of AI, no matter the specific application. One respondent summarized, “AI should be embraced as an emerging technology and should have a place in coursework with focus on implementation, adoption, research, utilization, and ethical and legal considerations.”
Appropriate Uses
- Personalized student support: tutoring, translating, academic/career advising, easing administrative processes, brainstorming, editing, accessibility tools and assistive technology
- Teaching assistant: course design, grading, providing feedback to students, providing feedback to faculty, improving accessibility of course materials
- Research assistant: finding and summarizing literature, sorting and analyzing data, predictive modeling, creating data visualizations
- Administrative assistant: automating tasks, drafting/revising communications (e.g., email), transcribing audio
- Learning analytics: analyzing and visualizing student success data, providing insights for student recruitment and retention
- Digital literacy education: preparing students to be part of the digital workforce and society
Inappropriate Uses
- Trusting generative AI outputs without human oversight
- Simulating human judgment (e.g., grading student work, peer reviewing academic articles, writing recommendation letters)
- Representing AI-generated work as one’s own (e.g., using AI to write papers, take exams)
- Not citing AI as a resource for generated content
- Making high-stakes decisions (e.g., student admissions) without human oversight
- Conducting invasive data collection or surveillance
- Relying on AI tools in place of human thought and creativity
- Giving tools unauthorized access to sensitive data (e.g., PII) or intellectual property
AI and EFL Education in Saudi Arabia
The world as we know it today is more like a global community because countries and continents are engaging in more trade and business together, as well as education and tourism. People can now work or live in other countries thanks to the increased use of computers and other associated Technology. Web browsing and electronic mail are vital in the modern world. Technology is no longer a choice but a necessity in today’s world. The dominating force in our lives now is Technology. Technology has made things simpler and more efficient.
To solve these issues, language learning approaches supported with AI provide solutions. Applications of AI such as Duolingo, Babbel and others are ITS (like Duolingo, Babbel) which provide customized learning environment based on the needs of students. These tools can seem authentic and give students the chance to get in some speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Besides, the AI based platforms provide instant feedback and adapt their lessons on the general performance of learners.
One more AI benefit in EFL learning is that it allows to give ESL students exposure to English pronunciation and speech patterns. AI explained language tools embrace voice acknowledgment innovation that permits students to rehearse talking and sorting out promptly whether their pronunciation and grammar are legitimate. In Saudi Arabia, where students do not have many chances of meeting native English speakers, these tools are very important. The simulation of real life conversations helps the AI systems help learners become confident and fluency.
Personalized Learning with AI
Personalized learning is an educational technique that concentrates on individual students’ learning processes and caters to their wants, talents, and concerns. Thus, it promises to offer them varied learning experiences to help them acquire knowledge. This method goes beyond earlier education, and people support the view that students could attain better learning when the teaching environment is customized.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a familiar buzzword that we like to use whenever the chance arises. Personalized learning is a way to use AI that focuses on making training fit the needs of each individual student. One way to see what it can do is to look at it through the lens of specialized training.
One of the benefits of AI driven personalized learning is that it is self paced. Uniform curriculum not considering the differences of individual student is usually found in traditional classroom settings. On the other hand, AI detects the gaps in student’s knowledge and adjusts the lesson in the same way. This will also make sure no student will be left behind and advanced learners will have opportunity to move ahead without waiting for rest of the class.
Evidence from the research shows that AI as a tool for introducing language learning platforms leads to higher engagement and motivation among Saudi EFL students as compared to a traditional classroom setting. Students find the capacity to manage its speed of learning, and to obtain suggestions based on the individual needs improves the learning experience. Moreover, AI Powered language learning tool is interactive – which makes the language learning process fun and enjoyable, thereby increasing the retention rates and overall proficiency in the language.
Increased Engagement and Motivation
Gamification taps into motivational aspects of games, while AI enables personalized, adaptive learning experiences. Together, they offer innovative strategies for transforming education into an engaging, personalized process for developing vital competencies. Now, with the growing use of AI and innovative tools within our schools and education systems, the proven value of play and gamification in an educational context can be explored and augmented in unprecedented ways.
AI is set to have a huge impact on the educational landscape, with adaptive learning and tutoring through AI assistants opening up a world of personalised, highly responsive teaching. Alongside this, students will start to engage with a new generation of collaborative tools, virtual project spaces and immersive learning platforms like Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), that can transport them to fascinating places; fictional worlds, scientific experiments, and historical events. Educational experts and psychologists have long hailed the role of play as a core approach to learning and fostering imagination and creativity — and now, with the rise of EdTech tools, there will be more opportunities to enable it within the classroom, and richer experiences for both students and educators to embrace.
AI technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) offer immersive learning experiences. VR applications that simulate real life situations such as ordering in a restaurant, practicing a job interview simulate realistic contexts in which the students practice English. Such tools have their utility given that there are limited opportunities in the real world to practice English in Saudi Arabia. AI has the ability to convert traditional learning ways to more immersive and interactive ones that make the students more motivated and encourage them to be more active.
Challenges and Limitations
Since it has its benefits, problems come with AI in education. Another important one is bias in the AI algorithms that can very much affect the learning outcomes. Some of the AI tools are trained from datasets that were not built considering linguistic identities and may have disadvantages to people who are not native English speakers.
Future Research Directions
Although there have been great potentials of AI to be employed in EFL education, further researches are still needed to trace back its impact in the long run. The studies should look to measure how over time, AI driven instruction helps improve language proficiency in the long run and in the short run, how it aids in acquiring language skills including but not limited to, reading comprehension, better pronunciation, and writing fluency.
Conclusion
It is here where AI is redefining the learning experience of EFL (English as an Foreign Language) education in Saudi Arabia by increasing engagement, increasing motivation and more personalized learning experiences. Language, has been always an interesting topic in Artificial Intelligence, for which here are tools like Duolingo, intelligent tutoring systems and AI driven VR applications. Nonetheless, AI involves a challenge, such as bias in AI algorithms, data privacy issue, and adaptability problem, and we need to overcome it so that we can enjoy the benefits of AI. With collaborative efforts and involvement of educators, institutions, and policy makers, Saudi Arabia can use AI to benefit English language education and reach Vision 2030 objectives.
