People are always looking for their daily lives to be more convenient, and with one quick search on ChatGpt, some people are feeling more informed than scientists.
Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm over the past two years for its accessibility and wealth of knowledge. Every day AI grows smarter as it learns new information and algorithms. As a student or teacher, it would be difficult not to take advantage of this tool, but it begs the question, where do we draw the line?
As stated by MIT Open Learning, generative AI has already vastly shifted education. They explained how students are using AI sites to bypass the critical learning stage of an assignment, allowing them to get it done in the fastest way possible. A good example of this is writing essays. Educators want students to develop writing skills by going through the full process, taking time to make rough drafts, edit and revise. Recently, sites like ChatGpt allow students to completely disregard this process, prompting AI to spit out an entire essay.
“I think it’s about being able to use it responsibly… not taking away that like critical thinking piece, because I think like being able to ask questions and then research and find the answer is really important,” Teacher Kirstin Olson said.
The US Department of Education has a specific outline of how students should learn. They believe they need to be “active learners” by engaging in discussion with classmates, using visual models and using these strategies to explain what they learned. The department sees AI as a tool to help refine these skills, but not replace them.
It is widely agreed upon that AI needs to be worked into our core teaching and learning strategies but not completely take it over. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction which oversees K-12 public schools in Washington, believes in the “human – AI – human” approach. Essentially, this philosophy endorses the initial seeking of information from humans, then after engaging with AI there needs to be a reflection of what was read and learned by humans; a critical thinking stage. But, this is easier said than done because there are times students turn to AI when it is more convenient and tempting to get quick answers.
“When I’m desperate, I just look up the answers, and I don’t actually know what I’m doing.” senior Hope Burdick said.
While this strategy can be helpful for getting answers to an assignment, it does not necessarily lead to learning.
Furthermore, AI can be helpful when it comes to finding sources. Searching through Google for credible websites can take a lot of time, and with one specific prompt put into AI, it becomes easy to find the information.
“AI is definitely gonna make education a whole lot easier for students…it’s not technically doing the work for them, but it allows them to do their work more efficiently and faster, especially like with research projects,” junior Jeyden Hansel Clement said.
There is no doubt AI is the new popular tool, but there are some things that can’t be replaced. Human-to-human interaction is something invaluable to education and needed for people to learn effectively. Learning is not general, there are many little details and new nuances when passing knowledge from one brain to the next, which is why human collaboration is important.
“I feel like human interaction is way more beneficial to learn the material than with AI,” stated Clement.
The subject of math is a great example of this; oftentimes, there are little steps that need to be followed in perfect order to complete a complex problem. If AI cannot point out this little detail to someone trying to learn an intricate problem, it will lead to frustration and confusion on why one is getting a wrong answer. Math teachers and educators of any subject are able to point out these minute details and help students fully understand a topic.
“I think what we do as teachers is really valuable and that with AI, you miss that personal connection because you’re talking to a robot,” Olson expressed.
From the perspective of the University of Illinois there are major pros and cons on both sides of the spectrum when it comes to AI in education. In a survey conducted by Tyton Partners, 27% students use AI regularly while only 9% of educators do the same. The college believes it is important for those working in the education realm to understand the pros and cons of AI due to the frequent use in current student life.
Educators are getting ahead of this, as meaningful discussions are taking place on the pros and cons, along with teaching responsible use of the technology.
“We’ve certainly had conversations kind of as a teaching staff about what it is and how we could use it effectively and maybe identifying some of the downfalls of it,” Olson said.
AI is trending in the direction of worldwide use. In education, many different steps can be taken to ensure safe and ethical practices with the tools. As educators, making plans for AI now will be important for how students of the future approach learning.
Loading ...
