Unlocking the joy of learning with a spirit of play.
GUEST COLUMN | by Szymon Machajewski
In the world of chess, artificial intelligence (AI) has been nothing short of revolutionary. From Deep Blue’s historic victory over Garry Kasparov in 1997 to the rise of powerful chess engines like Stockfish, AI has transformed how players approach the game, learn, and improve their skills. As we witness this AI-driven renaissance in chess, we can draw valuable lessons for its potential to enhance higher education, making learning more engaging, personalized, and accessible than ever before.
‘As we witness this AI-driven renaissance in chess, we can draw valuable lessons for its potential to enhance higher education, making learning more engaging, personalized, and accessible than ever before.’
It is important to note that chess has experienced an unprecedented surge in popularity, contrary to fears that artificial intelligence might diminish interest in the game. In fact, AI has played a pivotal role in making chess more accessible and engaging to a wider audience than ever before. The integration of AI-powered chess engines and online platforms has revolutionized how people learn, practice, and enjoy the game, leading to a global chess renaissance.
In the Spotlight
In 2022, a viral social media post featuring soccer icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo playing chess captured global attention, while celebrities like Logic, Rainn Wilson, and Andrew Yang publicly championed the game. The chess world buzzed with widely shared recordings of Bill Gates losing to Magnus Carlsen in a mere 80 seconds and Arnold Schwarzenegger facing off against Mike Tyson over the board. This celebrity engagement has been complemented by a boom in chess content creation, exemplified by Levy Rozman’s GothamChess YouTube channel surpassing five million subscribers.
The Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” played a pivotal role in this renaissance, reaching 62 million households and catalyzing an 87% increase in chess set sales and a staggering 603% rise in chess book sales in the US. The digital sphere has seen equally impressive growth, with Chess.com reporting a surge from 1 million daily active users in 2019 to 7 million in January 2023. Twitch has become a hotbed for chess content, experiencing a 500% increase in chess viewership between 2019 and 2020, with sustained growth thereafter.
One of the key ways AI has transformed chess is by providing adaptive learning experiences. Chess engines can adjust to a player’s skill level, offering appropriate challenges to keep them engaged and motivated. This adaptive approach aligns perfectly with Vygotsky’s 1978 concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which posits that optimal learning occurs when challenges are just beyond a learner’s current abilities but within reach with guidance.
This adaptive approach also resonates with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of “Flow,” a state of optimal experience where challenge and skill are perfectly balanced. By leveraging AI to create adaptive learning experiences, we can help students achieve this state of flow in their studies, fostering a deep sense of engagement and joy in the learning process.
The Advantage of “Kind” Problems
Chess represents what psychologist Robin Hogarth calls a “kind” learning environment. Kind environments have a clear goal, timely feedback, and well-defined rules. This is in contrast to “wicked” problems found in the job market, which often have non-obvious patterns, delayed or inaccurate feedback, and unclear rules.
Classes are fundamentally intended to be “kind” problems. The kind nature of chess makes it an ideal playground for AI, and the same principles can be applied to many areas of higher education. By creating structured learning environments with clear feedback loops, we can help students build confidence and mastery in a safe space before tackling more complex, real-world challenges.
In the world of chess, a handshake between opponents after a game, regardless of the outcome, symbolizes mutual respect and acknowledgment of a well-played match. This practice of “losing well” and learning from failure is a fundamental aspect of chess culture that could serve as a valuable model for higher education. By embracing this mindset, universities could potentially address the growing mental health crisis among students. The ability to view setbacks as opportunities for growth rather than insurmountable failures could significantly reduce stress and anxiety.
Furthermore, the increasing preference among students to confide in non-judgmental chatbots rather than human counselors highlights a crucial need for safe, judgment-free spaces in educational settings. Incorporating these chess-inspired principles of graceful defeat, continuous learning, and non-judgmental support into higher education could foster a more resilient, mentally healthy student body. This approach not only prepares students for academic challenges but also equips them with vital life skills for navigating failures and setbacks in their future careers and personal lives.
Intelligent Tutoring and Feedback Must Be Wanted, Not Just Be Available
In chess, AI engines serve as tireless training partners, offering immediate feedback and helping players learn from their mistakes. They provide a safe space for experimentation and growth, allowing players to test new strategies and ideas without fear of judgment. This concept of intelligent tutoring and feedback can be readily applied to higher education.
By offering immediate feedback and recommendations, AI tutors can help students stay on track, build confidence, and develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter. This constant availability of support can be particularly valuable for non-traditional students or those in remote areas who may have limited access to in-person tutoring resources.
In higher education, we can envision a similar symbiosis between AI and human instructors. AI can handle routine tasks like grading and provide personalized practice exercises, freeing up instructors to focus on higher-order teaching activities like fostering critical thinking, facilitating discussions, and providing mentorship.
However, it’s important to note that general AI still has limitations. When ChatGPT played against Stockfish, a specialized chess engine, it demonstrated that current general AI is still far behind highly specialized systems in specific domains. This underscores the importance of developing targeted AI tools for education rather than relying solely on general-purpose AI. Truly, the AI you’re using now is the worst AI you’ll ever use. ChatGPT can’t compete with Stockfish in Chess. But one day, there will be Stockfish-like optimized AI for each activity.
The challenge facing educational technology and automated tutoring systems is how to motivate students to actively seek help. There’s a stark contrast between chess students, who eagerly seek out and pursue assistance for the sheer enjoyment of improving their game, and academic students, where only 5% take advantage of available automated tutoring resources. This is a gap that calls for thoughtful consideration.
The Joy of Learning
Perhaps the most important lesson we can draw from the world of chess is the power of AI to nurture a genuine love for the subject matter. Despite (or perhaps because of) the rise of powerful chess engines, interest in chess has soared. The game remains hugely popular, with chess-related content regularly going viral on social media and chess set sales booming.
The impact of AI on learning isn’t limited to chess. The game of Go provides another compelling example. When Google’s AlphaGo defeated world champion Lee Sedol in 2016, it didn’t just win a game—it transformed how humans approach the ancient board game. Lee Sedol himself acknowledged that AI taught him something new about the game he had been playing for decades. He stated, “I thought AlphaGo was based on probability calculation and that it was merely a machine. But when I saw this move, I changed my mind. Surely AlphaGo is creative.”
In the two months following his loss to AlphaGo, Lee Sedol won every tournament game he played, demonstrating how AI can inspire human players to reach new heights. Similarly, after training with AlphaGo, European Go champion Fan Hui went on to win the 2016 European Professional Go Championship. These examples illustrate how AI can serve not just as a tool for practice, but as a source of inspiration and new ideas.
In higher education, we can harness this potential to help students see subjects from new perspectives, challenge established paradigms, and push the boundaries of their fields.
As we look to the future of higher education, it’s clear that AI has the potential to be a powerful ally in our mission to inspire, educate, and empower students. By learning from the successes of AI in chess and other domains, we can create learning environments that are more adaptive, engaging, and joyful than ever before.
However, it’s crucial to remember that AI is a tool, not a replacement for human educators. As Garry Kasparov, who famously lost to Deep Blue, later reflected: “The human-machine relationship is not about humans versus machines, but about humans and machines working together to solve problems that neither could solve alone.”
The chess renaissance sparked by AI shows us that technology, far from diminishing human potential, can elevate it to new heights. Let’s seize this opportunity to revolutionize education, fostering a generation of lifelong learners who are curious, adaptable, and ready to thrive in an AI-enhanced world. The future of education is here – and it’s more exciting than ever.
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Dr. Szymon Machajewski is Associate Director, Academic Technology and Learning Innovation
Learning Technology Solutions (LTS) at University of Chicago Illinois. He serves on UIC Electronic Information Technology (EIT) Accessibility Policy Committee, is an EDSAFE AI Alliance Council Member (EDSAFE), an EDUCAUSE Student Success Analytics Steering Committee (EducauseSSACG) member, and a member of the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR). Write to: szymonm@uic.edu
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Original Article Published at Edtech Digest
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