A year ago we couldn’t have predicted the impact ChatGPT would have on how we learn and work — here was a bot that could code, do homework, write essays and clear medical exams! If 2023 was about navigating uncertainty and disruption, 2024 promises to be a year of innovation, and expanding opportunity with Generative AI. The technology has emerged as a powerful enabler that can be used to solve long-standing challenges in education. As the possibilities grow to harness its potential, “how” and “what” Indians learn are poised to change dramatically.

How we learn: The next frontier of personalised and interactive learning.

Research shows high-impact tutoring benefits a wide range of students, from lower-income learners, to those who have fallen behind academically. Yet private tutors are expensive and completely out of reach for most Indians.

But what if a student in rural India could have the same tutor as a learner in Mumbai? Generative AI will make this possible at the scale India needs. Think of a virtual coach with conversational abilities, who can explain a concept a student is struggling with, or discuss mock test questions as a learner prepares for an entrance exam. That is the new level of personalized and interactive online learning ahead.

In a country as linguistically diverse as India — the mediums of instruction for CBSE now span 22 languages — Generative AI can be a game changer. Virtual personal coaches will be able to help students learn in the language they are comfortable in, answering questions in English, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Assamese or any other Indian language.

These breakthroughs in the learning experience will be supported by the ability to scalably create high-quality courses. With advanced Generative AI tools, faculty would be able to auto-generate course content, hugely reducing the time and cost of producing course content. From creating a course structure, to compiling readings, assignments, and glossaries, instructors would be able to quickly produce a privately authored course by customising and blending world-class content online.

What we learn: New skills needed for the AI Age

Generative AI has progressed at an unprecedented pace, transforming work across every industry, impacting almost every job in some way, and altering the skills we need. For the first time, research shows high-skilled, higher wage jobs are at risk of automation.

As people scramble to keep up with these changes, demand for Generative AI learning content is surging. When Generative AI for Everyone, a course by DeepLearning.AI was launched a few weeks ago on Coursera, it crossed 65,000 learners worldwide in just 14 days — 12,000 enrollments came from India, the second highest globally.

So, what will these shifts mean for Indian higher education? Going into 2024, university leaders are evaluating which skills students must build even before they graduate. While digital skills will remain relevant, graduates will increasingly need human skills like critical thinking, complex problem solving and collaboration — skills AI may not be able to take over or replace, according to the World Economic Forum. Rather, Generative AI will augment tasks that need these skills, reducing workloads and increasing productivity. Graduating students, including those from a nontechnical background, will need a deeper understanding of how Generative AI works and how they can take advantage of its revolutionary new capabilities in their future line of work.

Blended learning will become a way for campuses to dynamically adapt, equipping students with these new skills at the speed and scale required. Lifelong learning won’t be good to have in the Age of AI. Given the frequency of change, it will be critical. Once in the workforce, continuous upskilling and reskilling will be the only way to stay employable.

The good news is, the same technology that created a massive disruption, is also offering new solutions to help Indians learn effectively and revolutionise access to education — a promising evolution with Generative AI that will pan out in 2024.

This is a contributory article by Raghav Gupta, managing director, India and APAC, Coursera.