The potential for Artificial Intelligence is widely proclaimed. Yet, in everyday educational settings the use of this technology is limited. Particularly, if we consider smart systems that actually interact with learners in a knowledgeable way and as such support the learning process. It illustrates the fact that teaching professionally is a complex challenge that is beyond the capabilities of current autonomous robots. On the other hand, dedicated forms of Artificial Intelligence can be very good at certain things. For example, computers are excellent chess players and automated route planners easily outperform humans. To deploy this potential, experts argue for a hybrid approach in which humans and smart systems collaboratively accomplish goals. How to realize this for education? What does it entail in practice? In this contribution, we investigate the idea of a hybrid approach in secondary education. As a case-study, we focus on learners acquiring systems thinking skills and our recently for this purpose developed pedagogical approach. Particularly, we discuss the kind of Artificial Intelligence that is needed in this situation, as well as which tasks the software can perform well and which tasks are better, or necessarily, left with the teacher.
Background: The immunization uptake rates in Pakistan are much lower than desired. Major reasons include lack of awareness, parental forgetfulness regarding schedules, and misinformation regarding vaccines. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and distancing measures, routine childhood immunization (RCI) coverage has been adversely affected, as caregivers avoid tertiary care hospitals or primary health centers. Innovative and cost-effective measures must be taken to understand and deal with the issue of low immunization rates. However, only a few smartphone-based interventions have been carried out in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to improve RCI. Objective: The primary objectives of this study are to evaluate whether a personalized mobile app can improve children’s on-time visits at 10 and 14 weeks of age for RCI as compared with standard care and to determine whether an artificial intelligence model can be incorporated into the app. Secondary objectives are to determine the perceptions and attitudes of caregivers regarding childhood vaccinations and to understand the factors that might influence the effect of a mobile phone–based app on vaccination improvement. Methods: A mixed methods randomized controlled trial was designed with intervention and control arms. The study will be conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital vaccination center. Caregivers of newborns or infants visiting the center for their children’s 6-week vaccination will be recruited. The intervention arm will have access to a smartphone app with text, voice, video, and pictorial messages regarding RCI. This app will be developed based on the findings of the pretrial qualitative component of the study, in addition to no-show study findings, which will explore caregivers’ perceptions about RCI and a mobile phone–based app in improving RCI coverage. Results: Pretrial qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted in February 2020. Enrollment of study participants for the randomized controlled trial is in process. Study exit interviews will be conducted at the 14-week immunization visits, provided the caregivers visit the immunization facility at that time, or over the phone when the children are 18 weeks of age. Conclusions: This study will generate useful insights into the feasibility, acceptability, and usability of an Android-based smartphone app for improving RCI in Pakistan and in LMICs.
The healthcare sector has been confronted with rapidly rising healthcare costs and a shortage of medical staff. At the same time, the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a promising area of research, offering potential benefits for healthcare. Despite the potential of AI to support healthcare, its widespread implementation, especially in healthcare, remains limited. One possible factor contributing to that is the lack of trust in AI algorithms among healthcare professionals. Previous studies have indicated that explainability plays a crucial role in establishing trust in AI systems. This study aims to explore trust in AI and its connection to explainability in a medical setting. A rapid review was conducted to provide an overview of the existing knowledge and research on trust and explainability. Building upon these insights, a dashboard interface was developed to present the output of an AI-based decision-support tool along with explanatory information, with the aim of enhancing explainability of the AI for healthcare professionals. To investigate the impact of the dashboard and its explanations on healthcare professionals, an exploratory case study was conducted. The study encompassed an assessment of participants’ trust in the AI system, their perception of its explainability, as well as their evaluations of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. The initial findings from the case study indicate a positive correlation between perceived explainability and trust in the AI system. Our preliminary findings suggest that enhancing the explainability of AI systems could increase trust among healthcare professionals. This may contribute to an increased acceptance and adoption of AI in healthcare. However, a more elaborate experiment with the dashboard is essential.
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