How Indian Edtechs Are Getting Another Facelift With GenAI Spreading Its Wings

Following the Covid-19 pandemic-led digital makeover, the Indian edtech sector is standing on the precipice of another revolution. However, this time, India’s GenAI awakening is expected to further change the face of education.

According to a recent study conducted by TeamLease Edtech, approximately 62% of educators in India are utilising Generative AI (GenAI) tools to enhance their teaching methodologies and content delivery mechanisms.

Further, approximately 71% of Indian teachers believe that GenAI will shape the future of education, surpassing even the impact of the smartphone revolution.

Speaking with Inc42, sectoral experts highlighted that GenAI has paved the way for a significant transformation in India’s edtech paradigm, making learning more seamless than ever before.

They added that with the introduction of intelligent chatbots, content creation for edtech platforms has become more streamlined and cost-effective. In addition, edtechs are deploying AI to provide swift resolution of grievances and enhance overall user experience.

While this is just the tip of the iceberg, let’s delve deeper into how the rise of GenAI is all set to disrupt the Indian edtech ecosystem.

AI Enhancing Learning Outcomes

A recent report by EY highlights Gen AI’s potential to act as a patient and highly personalised tutor, capable of understanding each student’s individual needs.

It can effectively explain concepts and tailor learning trajectories based on the abilities, interests, and engagement levels of students. Additionally, GenAI assists in creating high-quality curriculum content and supports educators in developing teaching strategies.

Mayank Kumar, cofounder and MD of edtech giant UpGrad, told Inc42 that the edtech startup has adopted AI at various levels to ensure learners understand fundamental concepts effectively. UpGrad is using AI to create curricula and enhance the content experience of students.

Similarly, edtech major PhysicsWallah recently introduced its in-house chatbot “Alakh AI,” which serves as a personal AI tutor and assistant, enabling personalised learning experiences for students.

Alakh AI also offers tailored content recommendations, including videos and practice questions, to enhance each student’s learning journey.

Masai School’s cofounder and CEO Prateek Shukla, too, said that edtech startups are today leveraging GenAI for personalised learning. They are customising educational content to address individual requirements, ultimately enhancing learning outcomes. This is being done through the analysis of extensive data sets encompassing student interactions and learning behaviours, Shukla said.

“Another trend is the development of AI-powered content creation tools. These tools assist educators in generating interactive and engaging educational materials efficiently. Additionally, there’s a growing emphasis on leveraging generative AI for automating administrative tasks within edtech platforms, streamlining operations, and allowing educators to focus more on teaching,” Shukla added.

Moving on, at a time when conversational AI, including chatbots, has gained traction in the education sector, edtechs like Upgrad are leveraging them to give personalised and immersive learning experiences to learners.

“At an experience level, we have deployed various machine learning/AI tools to leverage the power of Large Language Models (LLMs) available in the market, and have built a GPT-powered chatbot to allow learners to undergo mock interviews at their convenience. The Chatbot offers real-time performance scores and feedback, providing a personalised and immersive learning experience,” Upgrad’s Kumar said.

Automation Of Repetitive Tasks

The sectoral experts that Inc42 spoke with said that GenAI is also helping in automating grading systems and providing immediate feedback to students. On the same lines, regional edtech startup Vidyakul has developed an AI chatbot, Drona, to provide round-the-clock assistance to students.

“AI is increasingly being utilised to handle grievances, swiftly resolving user queries. This proves to be more convenient for users compared to waiting for human responses or searching through FAQs. We have also witnessed AI-assisted grading enhancing the speed of assessment, allowing users to promptly receive graded assignments, thereby paving the way for instant feedback,” Tarun Saini, cofounder and CEO of Vidyakul said.

Saini added that AI analytics provide valuable insights into student performance and learning patterns, empowering educators to make data-driven decisions to optimise instructional strategies.

GenAI is also helping in the automation of tasks and personalised learning scale-up, reducing operational costs for institutions. With the integration of GenAI in day-to-day operations, edtech startups are seeing heightened student satisfaction and improved learning outcomes. Meanwhile, with the automation of the grading system, workload of many educators has also been reduced.

Concerns Galore But Outlook Positive

While there is little doubt about the fact that GenAI has successfully increased the efficiency of Indian edtech platforms, translating into better user engagement and retention, data privacy concerns loom more than ever.

Experts are of the view that student information must be protected from breaches, therefore edtech startups need to ensure that their algorithms remain unbiased.

“In addressing data privacy, we are careful about not using personal data for training our AI. We ensure data is securely transported and remind students not to share personal information. Our AI only knows basics like first name, gender, and class/grade of the student. To tackle biases, we regularly check our AI’s output and the data it is fed. We do not let the AI make decisions to avoid any bias influencing outcomes,” Vidyakul’s Saini said.

Moreover, the startup limits its AI use to answering academic questions and avoiding controversial topics. It is also planning to use sentiment analysis to keep conversations positive and focussed on learning.

Besides data privacy concerns, edtech startups encounter several other challenges when incorporating GenAI into their operations. The need for large volumes of high-quality data to train AI models effectively is one such challenge. Additionally, the accuracy and reliability of AI-generated content remain a big concern.

Despite existing challenges, industry experts foresee significant advancements in addressing inherent issues of edtech platforms with the help of GenAI in the coming years. This progress will likely pave the way for higher adoption of this emerging tech.