Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: A team from Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) has received a Google Academic Research Award to further their research on educational foundation models and intelligent tutoring systems.
Ekaterina Kochmar, assistant professor of natural language processing, and postdoctoral researcher Kaushal Kumar Maurya were the only representatives from the Middle East to be honored in the inaugural awards, specifically for their project aimed at making education more equitable using AI.
Their project, titled "2σ-ITS: A Pedagogical Intelligent Tutoring System Grounded in Learning Science Principles," focuses on developing dialogue-based tutoring systems powered by generative AI to assist students in various subjects, including STEM and languages.
Kochmar expressed gratitude for the recognition, emphasizing the project’s goal to provide NLP-driven educational technology to students globally. She highlighted the system's potential to offer personalized learning experiences tailored to individual needs.
"Modern technologies like state-of-the-art AI models and LLMs already exhibit impressive capabilities, so it's time to look into how they can be used for impactful applications," Kochmar stated.
Both researchers clarified that their system aims to assist teachers rather than replace them, providing personalized support in busy classrooms. Maurya added that such systems could become integral to education, similar to calculators and computers in the past.
The Google Academic Research Awards support impactful research with real-world applications across various categories, including education and societal AI challenges.