Learning Naturally with Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Written by: Steve Kass
“My CPU is a neural-net processor; a learning computer. The more contact I have with humans, the more I learn,” said the artificially intelligent (AI) cyborg played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the famous scene of the 1991 “Terminator 2 -Judgment Day” film. At the time, AI was depicted as frightening and futuristic. Fast forward thirty two years - AI is a part of our everyday lives.
Every time you use facial recognition to unlock your smartphone, navigate with step-by-step directions to a searched location, automatically fix spelling and grammatical errors in emails, and find new items online with search engine suggestions, you’re using AI and its subset technology, machine learning.
Recently, a new artificial intelligence tool called ChatGPT has become available online for free. ChatGPT is capable of writing emails, essays, poetry, lines of code, responding to questions and much more by just providing a few sentences of information. It works shockingly well, which has many educators scrambling to keep up with ways students might use this in their classrooms.
As educators, we strive to teach our students to leverage the possibilities of technology to become empowered learners, innovative designers, knowledgeable constructors, digital citizens and so much more (these are just a few of the competencies of a digital age learner). Utilizing AI technology is no different. It’s easy to focus on all the bad things students could use AI tools like ChatGPT for, but don’t forget about the good things it could be used for too.
A teacher could utilize ChatGPT to generate an essay or lines of text on a topic but could also request that it incorporates inaccurate or biased information. The students could then be tasked to identify what is incorrect and ways it could be corrected and improved. This “student vs robot” challenge can be a great way to encourage our students to analyze, synthesize and create new information in a new exciting way. We could also utilize ChatGPT to identify key points a student must explore when writing an essay. Suddenly, an AI tool like ChatGPT becomes a learning assistant rather than a learning hindrance. I think if we take a little time to think about how we can utilize this technology to enhance the learning experience, we’ll be more successful than finding ways we can block students from utilizing it.
If teachers are looking for a fun, hands-on way of introducing AI technology to students, check out the Cue Bot. Cue is a robot tool that is designed to teach students coding skills along with AI technology. The Cue Bot is one of many items that are available for teachers to check out via the REMC1 Classroom Maker Kit that can be requested through the Resource Request Form.
You can also learn to leverage the possibilities of technology in your classroom through the My Classroom in the Digital Age course offered by the REMC Association. This course is free, offered virtually and is worth SCECHs!
With the assistance of new technology and practice of good teaching skills, I am confident that learning will come naturally, even in this new age of artificial learning.
Listed below are a few helpful links on AI and ChatGPT that are worth exploring:
▪ Video - A Short Overview of ChatGPT
▪ 'Everybody is cheating': Why this teacher has adopted an open ChatGPT policy : NPR
▪ How Disruptive Will ChatGPT Be? – Dr. Catlin Tucker
▪ Unleashing AI Potential (by Lauren Richardson and and Ashley Morrison)
▪ A college student created an app that can tell whether AI wrote an essay
▪ John Sowash's Thoughts and Resources on ChatGPT
