The teacher is an everyday learner. Teaching demands him or her to learn something new as part of teaching techniques. He experiments his teaching by learning in a new environment. Innovative ideas are generated to impart teaching in an impressive way. He or she has to refer to many books to lend variety and beauty to the learners. Undoubtedly, Science and Technology is ruling the world now. New innovations in technology have become part of our lives. Among them, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is sweeping the modern world in all the sectors. Already, it has entered the sectors like education, news media, and medicine etc. It would soon touch almost all the sectors. When AI integrated tools and applications are used in different fields, the outputs have reached people beyond expectations. For example, if I remember rightly, I read in the newspapers that Odisha is the first state to introduce AI enabled newsreader in Odiya news channel. Since then, my curiosity doubled and I started learning a few things about AI and its presence. I see that AI is applied in multi-tasking applications. We have already stakeholders who claim that they have applied AI technology in their respective fields of operation. The impact is instantaneous and influential too. I go back to the days when I was first introduced to Internet in 1998 or so. It was something new for me in those days. Then I realized that we should change with changing times. Of course, the perception of change is clearly evident for me as an observer. Education is now making use of AI enabled teaching and learning in institutions. What would be the role of a language teacher in the changing scenario? Is this change viewed positively or not? Yes, we should be positive learners. If experimentation is the buzz word, then AI can’t be ignored. All the apprehensions about AI replacing classroom teachers are merely an illusion. AI maintains its privacy and safety. It does not respond to the queries beyond matters of confidentiality and privacy. It should be. Though the learners need physical presence of teachers in the classrooms, the teachers have to update their skills from time to time. “If you don’t update your skills, you will be outdated” is how a language teacher should progress in the career. It is never challenging for teachers when they have a will to learn about new innovations in language teaching. I don’t touch upon different apps and tools as somebody does it in a workshop by exposing the trainers to Hands-on experience. From manual classroom teaching to online and then to AL Enabled language teaching, teaching fraternity has experienced radical changes with technology offering new vistas of learning. It becomes inevitable for teachers to equip themselves with latest technology. One can’t be traditional forever as a professional. One should be an innovator too. Language teachers have to go ahead with AI in using tools and apps. The application part of AI, as I observe, is very crucial. Teachers should be trained accordingly by experts in the filed. The world of AI offers umpteen sources to undertake further research in education. Teachers will never be replaced by Al but it is traditional kind of stuff that will be replaced. Using AI to personalize the learning experience is ten times more innovative than traditional mode of lecturing. There is more scope to learn other languages. There are tools that focus on advanced learners as well. AI offers different settings to control the experience. Further, AI assists in language learning in a better way. It is more focused too. AI Pronunciation practice tools are available by which one can improve pronunciation like native speakers. For teachers, AI can generate content like lesson plans, quizzes and other exercises. It offers automated feedback upon learner engagement. The quality of language is analyzed by detecting errors. It corrects the mistakes of learners. “Learn with new learning experience” is the need of hour. Both teachers and learners become future innovators in language teaching and learning. AI knocks the classroom gates for a brilliant phase of learning exposure. It is hoped that teachers will have a successful journey with exposure to AI teaching and learning.
