Is It Ethical for Teachers to Use A.I. to Grade Papers?

60% of educators use AI in classrooms; this is the data analysis of Forbes Advisor. The statistics only hint at the obvious dominance of artificial intelligence (AI) in today’s world, offering rapid progress in every field, and education is not an exception. AI has been making major advancements on the educational grounds for years in the form of personalised learning tools, plagiarism detectors and so on.

However, the new debate that has sparked controversy concerns teachers' use of AI for grading. This ethical issue relates to the strict forbiddance of using AI in assignment writing. Teachers and schools have strong policies regarding AI in coursework. Hence, AI graded papers are seen to be an unethical and hypocritical step by the schools. Confused? We are too. Let’s explore this stance a bit in detail together in this read.

Why The Question In The First Place?

We will come to the Yes or NO of AI-led grading later, let’s first assess from where this scenario is coming from? Well, grading is tough and we all are 100% sure of it, be it students, parents or teachers themselves. Sitting hours on a seat and concentrating on written words and understanding contexts may compel you to early retirement, and we know someone who exactly did that. Therefore, teachers are attracted towards AI in this matter because:

 

• It saves time. You do not have to spend ages on a single paper, AI will do that efficiently for you.

 

• AI can grade various assignments of multiple choice or short answer questions in seconds, adding to the speed.

 

• It also maintains consistency across the assessments. Free from fatigue and bias, AI delivers the same accurate results for all tasks.

What Do The Critiques Say?

Let’s see what the general discussions and conclusions are regarding the question. The New York Times education portal The Learning Network published this question, ‘Is It Ethical for Teachers to Use A.I. to Grade Papers?’ asking for student opinions. It received a total of 464 comments to date, in which the majority of the students were in opposition. According to their response, why should a teacher be allowed to get it done so easily when a student is spending hours doing it? A teacher should invest as much time grading and evaluating the students’ work as they spend developing it, otherwise it is hypocrisy and ethical violation.

There were comments of high school teachers, too. According to them, AI-led grading of papers can never be the same as students using AI to develop papers. Students working on assignments, critically analysing information and writing; all count as generative skills and help students learn and grow. When they rely on AI to do that, they hinder their learning and skill development. On the other hand, teachers already know how to grade papers and the time AI grading would save could be spent on other important matters related to class and lesson planning.

The same concern was raised by a high school teacher in the column The Ethicist of the New York Times Magazine. To that question, the philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah, currently handling queries, answered that it is alright if a teacher uses AI to grade papers as both sides could not be held to the same standards. If AI offers efficiency, time saving and consistency, then adopting it is no harm. However, he said, the real concern should be about how accurate and precise an AI platform is in grading papers. If you are totally sure of its accuracy, go for it.

Our Discourse

AI is intelligent, but we can not 100% depend on it for anything. Further, various AI tools in the market also warn of their results or output to not be 100% precise.

This becomes more concerning when it comes to open-ended or creative assignments. There is great uncertainty whether the AI could assess these papers as refined as a human teacher can? Could AI identify context, tone, critical thinking accurately? Whether the AI be able to differentiate between the best assignment writer and a generic one based on language misinterpretations?

The most important part of this debate is the connection between teachers and students. When a teacher concentrates on a student’s writing for grading, they get a comprehensive understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the paper. With constructive feedback, this info can help students grow and improve. Whereas, AI grading flat out rejects or approves the content with no emotional and social bonding with students and we still are unsure about the accuracy of those results.

So, What’s The Final Verdict?

The final take is that AI is inevitable in today’s world, and we should leverage its best characteristics to the maximum. Hence, although teachers should not solely rely on AI for grading, it can be used as an assistant. For instance, AI can perform the grading first of the entire paper, but the teacher would be the one holding the final decision for marks and grades. The teacher would review the grading done by AI, make necessary points related to the students' weak and strong points, and decide the final grading position of the paper. This way, it will not only save time and make the process efficient but also help teachers improve the quality of lesson planning, class management and focus on bettering their students.

We should keep pace with the technological advancements and the latest trends, but with a critical observation. This will keep us safe in totally relying on artificial sources, and add to our skills, insights and efficiency.