>Seems likely there will be changes in higher education to work with gen AI instead of against it, and it could be a positive change for both teachers and students.
Since we're using anecdotes, let me leave one as well--it's been my experience that humans choose the path of least resistance. In the context of education, I saw a large percentage of my peers during K-12 do the bare minimum to get by in the classes, and in college I saw many resorting to Chegg to cheat on their assignments/tests. In both cases I believe it was the same motivation--half-assing work/cheating takes less effort and time.
Now, what happens when you give those same children access to an LLM that can do essentially ALL their work for them? If I'm right, those children will increasingly lean on those LLMs to do as much of their schoolwork/homework as possible, because the alternative means they have less time to scroll on Tik Tok.
>[blank] is an amazing tool ... when used properly
You could say the same thing about a myriad of controversial things that currently exist. But we don't live in a perfect world--we live in a world where money is king, and often times what makes money is in direct conflict with utilitarianism.
> Now, what happens when you give those same children access to an LLM that can do essentially ALL their work for them? If I'm right, those children will increasingly lean on those LLMs to do as much of their schoolwork/homework as possible, because the alternative means they have less time to scroll on Tik Tok.
I think schools are going to have to very quickly re-evaluate their reliance on "having done homework" and using essays as evidence that a student has mastered a subject. If an LLM can easily do something, then that thing is no longer measuring anything meaningful.
A school's curriculum should be created assuming LLMs exist and that students will always use them to bypass make-work.
>A school's curriculum should be created assuming LLMs exist and that students will always use them to bypass make-work
Okay, how do they go about this?
Schools are already understaffed as is, how are the teachers suddenly going to have time to revamp the entire educational blueprint? Where is the funding for this revolution in education going to come from when we've just slashed the Education fund?
I'm not an educator, so I honestly have no idea. The world has permanently changed though... we can't put the toothpaste back into the tube. Any student, with a few bucks and a few keystrokes, can instantly solve written homework assignments and generate an any-number-of-words essay about any topic. Something needs to change in the education process, but who knows what it will end up looking like?
This is what I meant in my other comment. Proponents of AI (not necessarily you) haven't seriously considered how these tools will impact the population.
Until they come up with a semblance of a plan, teachers will experience an undue burden to slog through automated schoolwork assignments, cheating, and handle children who lack the critical faculties to be well functioning members of society.
Since we're using anecdotes, let me leave one as well--it's been my experience that humans choose the path of least resistance. In the context of education, I saw a large percentage of my peers during K-12 do the bare minimum to get by in the classes, and in college I saw many resorting to Chegg to cheat on their assignments/tests. In both cases I believe it was the same motivation--half-assing work/cheating takes less effort and time.
Now, what happens when you give those same children access to an LLM that can do essentially ALL their work for them? If I'm right, those children will increasingly lean on those LLMs to do as much of their schoolwork/homework as possible, because the alternative means they have less time to scroll on Tik Tok.
But wait, this isn't an anecdote, it's already happening! Here's an excellent article that details the damage these tools are already causing to our students https://www.404media.co/teachers-are-not-ok-ai-chatgpt/.
>[blank] is an amazing tool ... when used properly
You could say the same thing about a myriad of controversial things that currently exist. But we don't live in a perfect world--we live in a world where money is king, and often times what makes money is in direct conflict with utilitarianism.