Personalized education and Artificial Intelligence in the United States, China, and India: A systematic review using a Human-In-The-Loop model

Abstract

The traditional “one size fits all” education system has been largely criticized in recent years on the ground of its lacking the capacity to meet individual student needs. Global education systems are leaning towards a more personalized, student-centered approach. Innovations like Big Data, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have given the modern-day technology to accommodate the distinctive features of human beings - smart machines and computers have been built to understand individual-specific needs. This opens an avenue for “personalization” in the education sector. From, mushrooming of Education Technology (EdTech) start-ups to government funding in AI research, it is evident that the next generation educational reforms would take a quantum leap forward piloted by Big Data analysis and AI. The objective of this paper is to organize the vast literature on the use of AI for personalization of education and to shed light on the key themes by which an AI-driven approach makes structural modifications to the existing education system. To this effect, the paper employed a systematic review using a Human-In-The-Loop natural language processing model of past two years' literature (2019–2021) in English language from IEEE Xplore on countries China, India and the USA. This process yielded more than 2000 search results at first and these were eventually shortlisted to 353 relevant papers for in-depth analysis. Being the pioneers in EdTech innovations, insights from research done in these three countries provides valuable input for the development of global education systems and research. The findings bring forward AI's success in catering to specific learning requirements, learning habits, and learning abilities of students and guiding them into optimized learning paths across all three countries. Not just that, it is also evident from the literature that AI augments educational content, customizes it for any individual according to their needs, and raises the flag of caution for anticipated learning difficulties. This recalibrates the role of instructors as well as optimizes the teaching-learning environment for a better learning experience. The upward trajectory of educational development with AI opens a new horizon of personalized education for the future generation, but also comes with its challenges. Data privacy issues, availability of digital resources, and affordability constraints have been reported in the recent literature as impediments in the way of promoting such technologies for day-to-day practice.