AI-powered education platform will shift Thai economy: NetDragon
Artificial intelligence (AI) powered education platform called “aom-ai” is expected to help boost the potential of human capital, create jobs and stimulate the economy in Thailand amid rapid digital transformation.
The lifelong learning platform is jointly developed by Chinese digital platform company NetDragon Websoft Holdings, IT company EDA (Thailand) with support from the Higher Education Ministry.
NetDragon vice chairman Simon Leung told The Nation in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that the platform focuses on personalised learning through AI integration, allowing users to accumulate knowledge effectively and efficiently.
The platform’s AI teacher offers personalised learning experience and overall educational journey by enabling users to communicate and develop on their chosen course, he explained.
Enhancing skills development
Initially, English for healthcare will be available in a bid to enable medical staff to fluently communicate with foreigners coming to Thailand along with supporting the country’s plan to promote medical tourism.
Leung confirmed that this learning course will help attract foreign travellers to Thailand, saying that Chinese and Hong Kong people love to visit the country for medical checkups and tourism activities.
“I believe that it is a big opportunity for Thailand, but the fact is that you need better language skills (to achieve the goal),” he said, adding that English for tourism would be launched later to support the country’s tourism industry.
Thanks to AI learning potential, he said the platform can offer other learning courses rather than language skill to tailor the needs of Thailand, such as financial survival, digital foundation, knowhow on electric vehicles (EVs) and semiconductors.
“The idea is not only just for education. We want to impact the economy to create jobs, and then people can go get jobs and make more money,” he said.
Leung affirmed that the platform will not replace teachers. Instead, he said teachers will be even more important because they have to learn soft skills for their students. “The idea is to free up teaching, so teachers can go on and do more things they have to students,” he said.
NetDragon’s resource centers to train nationwide
Leung expects Thai universities to collaborate with NetDragon to get a lot of young people to understand and know about AI, so they can have career opportunities both domestically and internationally.
He said the company is planning on setting up resource centres in Thailand to offer knowledge to people nationwide. “What we want to do is train people. We want them to grow and we export initially to other parts of Southeast Asia,” he said.
Meanwhile, Natasak Rodjanapiches, executive director of EDA (Thailand), emphasised that aom-ai platform enhances learning efficiency and career development, with recognised certifications.
“The word ‘aom’ in Thai means embracing and saving. So aom-ai refers to saving a lot of knowledge,” he said.
He added that the combination of NetDragon’s technological expertise and EDA’s local knowledge resulted in a modern education solution tailored to individual learning styles and industry needs.
The aom-ai platform, along with other cutting-edge education and online gaming platforms, are being showcased at MHESI Fair 2024: SCI Power for Future Thailand at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok from July 22-28.
Technology key to consistent quality in digital transformation
Leung went on to say that NetDragon has decided to collaborate with Thai agencies as the company has witnessed growing demand for upskilling and reskilling amid rapid digital transformation.
He noted that Thailand needs both human capital and technology in order to achieve success in transformation. If you rely on humans, the quality will go up and down. In order to address that, you need technology, he said.
Asking about people’s uncertainty over new technology, he believes that AI will take an increasing role in people’s lives similar to the internet.
“When the internet first came, a lot of people worried about it. But at the end of the day, you use the internet, he uses the internet. You are going to die without using the internet. I think AI is going to be like that,” he said.
He affirmed that AI reduces a lot of work that is being done today, so people can go into something that is more interesting, more valuable and makes more money. Technology is crucial for boosting Thailand’s potential to attract foreign travellers and investors, resulting in positive sentiment on the economy, he added.
Leung stressed that factors crucial for digital transformation in Thailand include the government’s commitment and people’s readiness to embrace digitalisation.
He recommended the government to continue training young people to embrace digitalisation, especially AI. “I do not think Thailand has a problem for young people to embrace. That is why I am really positive about the development,” he said, adding that the company is ready to support the government on the development.
Company background
NetDragon has successfully operated in the field of educational technology and online gaming industry worldwide, thanks to the development of hardware, software, platforms and learning resources over the past 10 years.
Currently, the company provides educational services in over 2 million classrooms with more than 150 million users across 192 countries worldwide.
EDA, meanwhile, is expertise in developing AI-based lifelong learning platforms and skill matching that meet international standards in a bid to close education and employment gaps amid rapid change in the labour market.
The company also focuses on offering digital literacy, access to education and skill development for people across Thailand, especially underprivileged ones.
