AI IN EDUCATION TECHNOLOGIES

AI is a transformative force in education, with significant impacts on several educational sectors, e.g., Adult Education & Vocational Education and Training. Technologies such as Intelligent Tutor Systems (ITS), Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) offer possibilities for improving teaching and learning. The most widely used are intelligent tutoring systems (ITS), machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Intelligent tutoring systems are integrated and complex systems, designed and developed using artificial intelligence approaches and methods, for solving problems and requirements of teaching/learning activities in education and training of students and the workforce, based on computers and emerging web-based resources (Alfaro et al., 2020). Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence that focuses on creating algorithms and statistical models that enable computers to improve performance on a specific task through experience and learning from data. In other words, machine learning allows computers to learn from data and autonomously improve over time without being explicitly programmed to perform a specific task (Zhi-Hua, 2021). Instead, natural language processing is a branch of artificial intelligence that focuses on the relationship between computers and human language. The main goal of NLP is to enable computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language naturally. This field addresses the challenge of enabling computers to interact more meaningfully and usefully with humans through language (Shaik et al., 2022). Finally, virtual reality and augmented reality are technological tools used for visual education. Virtual reality is a technology that creates a simulated environment, often three-dimensional and interactive, that can be explored and manipulated by a person through the use of devices such as VR viewers, sensory gloves, or controllers. This virtual environment can be designed to represent a completely imaginary world or can be a simulation of a real-world environment (Riva & Gaggioli, 2019). Augmented reality is a technology that superimposes digital elements, such as images, sounds or information, on a real-world environment in real time. In essence, AR enriches the perception of the real world by adding virtual elements, often through devices such as smartphones, AR glasses or AR visors (De Paolis, 2012).