How Artificial Intelligence is transforming higher education in Latin America (and what’s happening in Peru)

Since 1980 the Artificial intelligence was present in higher education in part of the Latin American region, while in recent years its use has gradually expanded in classrooms: an evolution that has brought with it opportunities for new learning, but at the same time challenges of how it could affect the traditional way of to teach.

In some universities in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Dominican Republic the use and study of Artificial Intelligence (AI) had more impact than in other areas of the Latin Americawith the opening of new careers in this area, the integration of related disciplines in other technological areas and the creation of tools and applications to facilitate teaching and research in different branches of knowledge.

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The American Newspaper Group (GDA) analyzed how AI has transformed higher education in several countries in the region, with examples such as the opening of an augmented reality simulation hospital in Costa Rica, AI research centers in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina; It is the creation of a smart drone that recycles solid waste from the sea made by a technology student in the Dominican Republic.

According to Sergio Celis, associate researcher at the Center for Advanced Research in Education at the University of Chile, people are currently learning to work with machines and These technologies will be part of the professional, investigative and creative experience.

Likewise, Constanza García, director of the Mathematics Department at the Externado de Colombia University, expressed that The biggest challenge is making people understand that AI and the use of these technologies are here to stay and that it is not a passing fad.

“Many topics must be demystified, we must train, teach and raise awareness to make appropriate use,” said García.

AI programs in higher education

Until now, Colombia is one of the leaders in AI studies in the regionwith approximately 18 higher-level academic programs and degrees in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence taught by Sergio Arboleda University.

Furthermore, in 2022, the AudacIA Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Centerlocated in Barranquilla, it was the first to be recognized by the Organization of American States (OAS).

Further south, the University of Buenos Aires (UBA)In Argentine, It has more than 450 training offers that include academic activities related to AI.

Brazil, Chile and Mexico also offer some careers in AI, but in Peru they are just starting this year. Others, such as Venezuela and El Salvador, have not yet made great progress in these studies.

In the Dominican Republic alone there are at least 54 smart classrooms (one of them is developing an academic registration system using facial identification); also immersive education laboratories and a bachelor’s degree, three master’s degrees and a doctorate in AI.

By April 2024, two other countries already offered doctoral studies in this technology, the first being in South America, Chile, through the alliance of the CRUCH Biobío Consortium – Ñuble University. Mexico is also on the list with the Universidad Tecnológica de Mixteca and Tecnológico de Monterrey.

Universities in the region create AI

From tools to facilitate teaching activities to chat bots for students, Several Latin American universities have created platforms and applications with the help of AI.

Víctor Cuchilla, coordinator of the Master’s Degree in Technology Management at the Francisco Gavidia University (UFG) in El Salvador, explained that this center, together with the Argentine organization Evaluada AI, is carrying out a project that consists of teachers placing content on a platform that will serve for suggestions of academic activities to develop in your classes.

While The University of Chile created a model for early detection of students who may be at risk of dropping out of school or of low academic performance. The Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra of the Dominican Republic (PUCMM) carries out a similar project, which consists of a predictive model for student retention and profiles prone to dropout.

This Dominican university has an AI to analyze diseases in agricultural crops and another to detect traffic conditions using machine vision.

But it is not just universities that lead these types of projects.

As part of their tasks, students at Technological Institute of the Americas (ITLA), in Santo Domingo, made a smart drone that identifies and collects solid waste found at sea and then deposits it in landfills; Furthermore, a platform to predict diseases of different patients in order to determine certain types of pathologies.

In Argentina they have the program “Learning analytics, predictive technologies and didactic redesign for AI-assisted learning”, from the Faculty of Psychology of University of Buenos Aires (UBA), with the aim of analyzing and didactically reformulating teaching and learning practices in context.

Another project created by Argentine students is called “Phylogenetic Trees and Viral Evolution: An AI-Assisted Pedagogical Approach”, which integrates this technology to teach complex concepts in genetics and viral evolution; The design of the Basic Immunology Chair was also developed, which focuses on developing a prototype that can be applied in the teaching of Veterinary Immunology.

Generative AI in the classroom

Both students and some teachers have also used generative AI to facilitate their studies and lesson planning.

An example is that of Emanuel Campos, a Costa Rican student, who used it to improve his document writing and verify the veracity of his writings at the Faculty of Human Sciences at his university.

Carlos Leonel Lima González, medical student at the Dominican public university, uses ChatGPT as a teaching and self-assessment tool.

“When I have a test or practical work and I want to assess how prepared I am, I ask ChatGPT to formulate exam questions (multiple choice, true or false, expand and complete), that I develop unique clinical cases to analyze them myself and I also give questionnaires with objective answers that I know cannot vary the answer by source”, said Lima González.

For Juan Carlos Rojas, who is a teacher in Costa Rica, Using ChatGPT in classrooms is not a big problem; in fact, it allows students to use it openly. “Personally, I don’t see any difference in asking a brother, friend or colleague for help. There is no way to stop this. Students will use it, but we must turn it into a favor, it can be a good tool,” said Rojas.

But as Colombian professor Jhonn Frederick Neva explains, Teachers still need to know and learn more about AI.

“In my case, being a teacher from a generation that graduated more than 20 years ago, for me this is still a sea of ​​knowledge that we are only now beginning to discover”, emphasized Neva.

In the last years, Latin American universities themselves have given courses and workshops to teach their professors how to take advantage of AI. Although they were not forced in any way.

In the case of Brazil, there is no impact in this sense. In some institutions, teachers took refresher courses in AI.

While professors at the University of Guadalajara, in Mexicothey indicated that “They are forced to incorporate these technologies because there is no other way.”

In the Venezuelan case, there is still a lot to know. However, at the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) there is a willingness on the part of professors to use the tools.

At the University of Buenos Aires, the AI Teacher Training Cycle, an educational program that adopted a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach in which 1,404 university professors participated.

Ethical Uses of AI in Higher Education

Another relevant issue that concerns university authorities is that students use AI without respecting the ethical principles of academia.

Already in Costa Rica they know it’s here to stay, that’s why The first step is for teachers to educate students on the correct use of these AI tools for educational purposes and their ethical use.

As Sadoth Giraldo Acosta, professor at the Ean University of Colombia, explains, The protection of copyright is essential in academic matters.

Professor Neva also indicated that some students look for entertainment in these tools and find options that allow them to cheat through exams, written work and projects.

“Students must be taught the use and utilities that exist, but also the responsibility for the care and proper use of these tools”, said Giraldo Acosta.

Christian Aparicio, national director of Higher Education at The Savior, stated that he already That country has anti-plagiarism systems in all higher education institutions and they are being reinforced with the acquisition of more licenses.

Some Dominican private universities have already worked on regulations for the proper use of AI, but the Dominican public university has indicated that resources are needed to acquire plagiarism detection licenses such as Turnitin.

ITLA’s academic vice-rector, Pedro Pablo Castro, said that this institute It has disciplinary regulations that indicate that plagiarism is not allowed.

“If a student tries to pass off work as his own and we detect it, this has consequences, there is a disciplinary committee and from there, depending on the severity, it is determined what to do,” said Castro.

Study times and costs

To date, there is no evidence that AI integration reduces or increases study time.

For Aparício, AI would help finish races in less time. According to their criteria, virtual teachers could adapt their content to each student’s cognitive abilities. “Why do 100 people have to spend two hours in a class, when there is a percentage that can learn in 15 minutes?”he said.

There is also no evidence that AI increases or decreases the cost of technology careers in the region.

The GDA calculated each country’s currency at the average dollar rate at the beginning of March. The results indicated that In countries like Peru a complete program could cost between 25,000 and 49,000 dollars, while in Mexico it varies between 2,600 dollars in a public institution and 24,575 dollars in a private institution.

In the Dominican Republic, the average total cost is between 80 and 401 dollars at a public university and up to 9,000, depending on the private center. In the case of Venezuela it could be between 300 and 1,000 dollars per semester. However, due to economic instability, these data vary.

*The Grupo de Diarios América (GDA), to which Listín Diario belongs, is a network of leading media outlets founded in 1991, which promotes democratic values, independent press and freedom of expression in Latin America through quality journalism. quality for our audiences.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.