I’ve been sick the past couple of weeks and haven’t been able to put together the usual run of Remote Notes. I appreciate your patience while I recover. Meantime, let’s talk Artificial Intelligence. Are you using it? How? What do you see as the future of AI?
When it first came out, I had a gaggle of teens at the house. We played with prompts to see how quickly and comprehensively it could write a 5 paragraph essay about the Iliad, or 250 words about why you'd want to attend Dartmouth College. We found it fascinating that it came up with unique content each time. We also found that it was neither completely accurate nor sufficient, but that if you had "writer's block" it could give you a first draft scaffold to help you organize your thoughts. Discussion ensued about whether or not this was "cheating." Subsequently, my kid's high school had a near emergency session about how they were going to handle its use in the classroom, and they came down HARD on students who admitted to using it for assignments. However, this tech is here to stay, and it is on us as educators and parents to learn about it and teach our kids how to use it for good!
I agree - education can't ban their way out of ChatGPT or any of the soon-to-be many other AI writers. So I tried to come up with questions teachers could ask as essays or in quizzes, and it can be done and lead to a richer experience. Example: Instead of assigning a paper to the symbolism in "Grapes of Wrath," ask a deeper question like "How did the book make you feel?" "What part of chapter three spoke to your life experience and why?" "We discussed symbolism in class - do you think we were accurate, or did you make an observation counter to our discussion." Those kinds of personalized questions can't be answered by AI because it doesn't do "feelings." It doesn't have your life experience. And it doesn't know what you were discussing in that class on symbolism. Another plus: AI can come up with a personalized test for each student, cutting down on cheating.
I assume I’m using AI in ways we don’t always realize. Face recognition, Netflix suggestions, etc. As for chat bots and the like, I have not yet used that, hope not to and assume I will down the road. John Oliver did a terrific and exhaustive-ish segment about AI on This Week Tonight Sunday. Definitely worth watching.
When it first came out, I had a gaggle of teens at the house. We played with prompts to see how quickly and comprehensively it could write a 5 paragraph essay about the Iliad, or 250 words about why you'd want to attend Dartmouth College. We found it fascinating that it came up with unique content each time. We also found that it was neither completely accurate nor sufficient, but that if you had "writer's block" it could give you a first draft scaffold to help you organize your thoughts. Discussion ensued about whether or not this was "cheating." Subsequently, my kid's high school had a near emergency session about how they were going to handle its use in the classroom, and they came down HARD on students who admitted to using it for assignments. However, this tech is here to stay, and it is on us as educators and parents to learn about it and teach our kids how to use it for good!
I agree - education can't ban their way out of ChatGPT or any of the soon-to-be many other AI writers. So I tried to come up with questions teachers could ask as essays or in quizzes, and it can be done and lead to a richer experience. Example: Instead of assigning a paper to the symbolism in "Grapes of Wrath," ask a deeper question like "How did the book make you feel?" "What part of chapter three spoke to your life experience and why?" "We discussed symbolism in class - do you think we were accurate, or did you make an observation counter to our discussion." Those kinds of personalized questions can't be answered by AI because it doesn't do "feelings." It doesn't have your life experience. And it doesn't know what you were discussing in that class on symbolism. Another plus: AI can come up with a personalized test for each student, cutting down on cheating.
I assume I’m using AI in ways we don’t always realize. Face recognition, Netflix suggestions, etc. As for chat bots and the like, I have not yet used that, hope not to and assume I will down the road. John Oliver did a terrific and exhaustive-ish segment about AI on This Week Tonight Sunday. Definitely worth watching.
It's a good observation that, in many ways, we've been using A.I. for years.
https://youtu.be/Sqa8Zo2XWc4