Artificial intelligence (AI) is a hot topic wherever you turn, with a growing range of AI tools available to address specific needs. Moodle 4.5 now includes AI capabilities through the introduction of a new AI subsystem, enabling organizations to integrate Moodle with AI APIs. 

One of the first steps is to explore how to integrate an AI API into Moodle. For more information, I recommend reading this article (add link to the first blog), where you’ll find details on how APIs work and the various options available to you.

Nervous or unsure? go slow

If you are curious about AI but unsure how to introduce it to your organization, start slowly with limited options and roles. Conduct a small pilot with a set budget to see how your users can benefit from AI. Use the AI dashboards provided with your API to gauge potential costs. Survey your users to see how they are using AI now and how they would want to use it in Moodle. Use this time to gauge your usage and predict future costs. 

Questions to ask your potential API provider

If you are ready to take the first step and research an AI provider, here are some possible questions to ask:

  • What tools do you provide that will help my organization scale up or down based on our AI needs? Once you provide users the ability to generate text and images, it can be difficult to manage their usage. AI APIs can provide the ability to set limits both site-wide and per user. 
  • What kind of AI is being used? Does the AI use non-generative, existing content based on prompts or generative AI that generates new content?
  • What kind of data is the AI trained on? Does the AI tool learn from finding information from the Internet or a specific knowledge engine? Can you add information to the knowledge engine?
  • How is the information that my organization adds to the system is stored and used? For example, if a teacher uses a plugin to generate test questions by copying and pasting their content into the AI tool, is that information stored and used to train the system for future requests? Can you dictate how your information is being used?
  • What is your privacy policy? What personal data are you storing about my users? For instance, some providers can store log data, usage data, device information, and location information.
  • Do you offer a dashboard and/or tools to assess how people are using the service? If so, is documentation provided to learn how to interpret how users are using the services?
  • What additional tools or partners can I connect to with the API? Could this API help your business in other ways?
  • What kinds of support are provided to help me use this API effectively? Are self-guided supports offered to help you find the answers on your own? How can you report on issues?

Taking your first AI steps can seem overwhelming, but finding the right AI vendor is your important first step. Start slow and focus on the specific challenges AI can help you solve.

Want to learn about AI? This article, What you need to know about AI, offers valuable insights to help you make an informed decision