Kenya's Teacher Crisis: AI Assistants Offer Relief Amid Connectivity Hurdles
Summary
Kenya's teacher shortage has prompted some educators to turn to AI assistants like ChatGPT to manage workloads, but limited internet connectivity and concerns over standardization and trust in the technology pose challenges to widespread adoption, sparking debate over investing in AI tools versus hiring more teachers.
Key Points
- Kenya faces a severe teacher shortage due to large class sizes and burnout, leading some teachers to use AI tools like ChatGPT to manage their workloads.
- AI edtech startups have struggled to scale due to lack of internet connectivity, with only 35% of schools having working internet in 2024.
- While AI tools promise to reduce workloads, there are concerns about standardization of lessons, hallucinations, and lack of trust in the technology, with some experts arguing for investing in more teachers and resources instead.