The potential for artificial intelligence in the educational sector

Service automation of assessment at Copenhagen Business School

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the way in which technology is conceived in society. While previously, its purpose was to simplify rule-based activities, it is nowadays a mean to aid humans in complex and unstructured data intensive decisions. The process of assessment in higher education, for instance, is an activity that can be improved through artificial intelligence as it consists of data intensive decisions, and at the same time, requires the teacher to focus on the performance of each student’s writing, thinking and knowledge of a topic.

This research uses a case study approach to look at the opportunity for Automated Essay Scoring (AES). As the current literature on AES has focused on primary and secondary education, the paper aims to expand the topic to higher education. The paper draws on a case study from Copenhagen Business School which analyses current resources and the experience of stakeholders (teaching staff, students and university management). The theoretical framework adopts a Service Dominant Logic and a human centred design approach to investigate the jobs, gains and pains of introducing AES. The research identifies a clear need from teachers and students for improvements in assessment feedback and the benefits and drawbacks of AES are outlined.