Some learners and teachers expressed optimism about the assistive benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) in education as the Department of Education (DepEd) officially launched Project AGAP.AI on Friday.
Project AGAP.AI, or Accelerating Governance and Adaptive Pedagogy through Artificial Intelligence, aims to benefit 1.5 million learners and teachers nationwide in its initial rollout.
Hannah Ysabelle Lualhati, a Grade 12 STEM student at Quezon City Science High School, said the tool could help students gather and verify sources for basic education research.
“Since our school is very integrated in research, I believe in fact-checking RRL and the utilization of RRL in general, the AI can really help us,” she said.
Milanie Cayanan, a Master Teacher I, said Project AGAP.AI could help improve teaching strategies by making lessons more interactive.
“It can give us more opportunities when it comes to our strategies, like gamification, when it comes to our lessons. Because this also entertains the students, so that it is more interactive,” she said.
Both stressed that AI integration at DepEd should have clear limitations and ethical boundaries to prevent overdependence.
“We really hope that it can be implemented wisely. It will serve as a big change that would be helpful for us students. I wouldn’t be too dependent on it since AI nga po. It’s only there to help us, not replace us,” Lualhati said.
Cayanan added that teachers closely monitor student outputs to ensure learners remain actively involved.
“When it comes to the output of the students, we make sure that it’s not more of the AI, that they should have an input on it – only aided by the AI,” she said.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara echoed these concerns, saying AI should not replace effort or be used to facilitate cheating or other disadvantages.
Among AGAP.AI’s key features are assistive tools for teaching pedagogy, research support, and gamified activities for learners. Ethical AI use will be integral to the project’s implementation, Angara said.
“We need to have rules, it’s not because it’s there, we will use it to replace traditional thinking,” he said.
The free AI tool may be expanded to more schools after the curriculum ends in the second quarter, in coordination with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Angara also assured close collaboration with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to ensure stable connectivity in public schools.
