AI in Dentistry
Within dentistry, AI is already being used in education and clinical practice, yet discussions around AI have tended to focus on the challenges associated with AI rather than the opportunities it may afford.
The British Alliance of Researchers in Dental Education and Scholarship (BARDES) hosted an AI themed conference in November 2023. Attendance at this conference included multiple stakeholders in dental education who took part in a ‘consensus workshop’ exploring the opportunities and threats of AI in dental education.
How did the workshop run?
In the initial development of the workshops, the team collaborated with local AI leads to generate a list of 9 potential opportunities and 6 potential threats to adopting AI in education. These provided an initial framework for a questionnaire, which we sent out in advance to all who had registered for the conference. We asked participants to rank the priority of these opportunities and threats, with an option for other suggestions. The top 4 responses for each category were used for topic guided group discussions.
Opportunities:
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Drive innovation and development of high quality teaching and assessment
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Facilitate personalised learning, student support and self-study
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To promote appropriate use of AI by students
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Equality
Threats:
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Misuse
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Data security/privacy
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Inequity in training/capability
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Inequity of access
What opportunities were identified?
Whilst few participants had experience or confidence in using AI in their current practice, there was much positivity about its potential role in supporting students and improving their education experience. Examples of opportunities of AI included:
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Enabling personalised learning
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Supporting additional learning needs and student wellbeing
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Developing educator resources
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Equity of available information
What perceived threats were identified?
Despite these positive opportunities the conversation often returned to threats and uncomfortable uncertainty. Likely driven by participants’ perceived lack of experience and knowledge. Examples of threats of AI included:
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Digital literacy and equality of access and ability
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Potential academic misuse
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Safety issues – patient centred
The workshop highlighted the current diverse approach in UK dental schools regarding AI, where the current focus was mostly risk management in assessment. Working towards a consensus approach to AI in dental education is further complicated as Dental Schools were also bounded by individual University led policy.
Future implications of AI for dental educators
There was unanimous agreement of the need for dental educators to engage with and embrace AI, realising the wide opportunities it can offer for students and staff. There was a strong recognition of needing to better understand how students are currently using AI. Future use of AI in development will require co-creation to optimise its application, mitigating concerns of misuse.
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