An AI Story(?) Day 141 (of 2024/250
A difference between calculators and generative AI that I notice in education is that the AI tools appear to mimic original thought whereas calculators conclude entered commands to an expected conclusion. And calculators were reviled by educators for a long while. And once expensive enough that Steve Wozniak once famously sold an HP-65 to help fund the production of the Apple I. Less famously, my Hp 19bii caused a lot of debate in my school as to whether or not I could use it for my Algebra 11 and 12 classes. And now even basic HP calculators are significantly more powerful than the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) that was used during the Apollo 11 mission. And are greatly expected that students have pretty good ones – though I still ponder if there’s an education conspiracy with big math to mandate calculators costing several hundred dollars but not free/cheap apps on those even more powerful personal screens.
But what if a calculator could explore math on its own?
Would we start citing calculator use on assignments and projects?
Should we start viewing AI as a collaborator more than a tool? Or should we wait until it has a better grasp on the maths and knows how many Ns are in ‘mayonnaise’ – or consistently has 5 fingers on pictures of humans? All are ‘when’, not ‘if’. The Turing Test is looking like chess and jeopardy – soon to be beaten by the mechanical brain… The Turing Test is a benchmark in AI that determines if a machine can exhibit human-like intelligence by engaging in a conversation indistinguishable from a human.
While many see it as a tool, I like the readings encouraging a collaborative mindset with our future robot overlords. Manners maketh the machine. And I think we need to spend some more energy on the skills to enhance this relationship even more than the common emphasis of being aware of fake news/images/sources through critical thinking and creative communication.
It’s going to need a different view on copyright and plagiarism. If we say AI support is cheating, then the introductory article is moot as we acknowledge the intelligences are on their way to sentience.
The right AI will be a powerful learning tool. Knowing all the curriculum and able to go to various levels of depth… need to know the names of 10 major bones or all 206. Text focus or images? Busy – I can read it to you and transcribe your thoughts…! Oh wait, I see you’ve got a second browser open as I am giving you a quiz… I’ll focus on some more formative review activities until you’re more confident! I’ll give you instant feedback on your writing…and reading… and visuals (I’m still a little weak on the maths) and you can spend more time socializing via play – Lego or Minecraft today?
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Sure there are going to be problems along the way – video and manipulation so that all parental excuses for absence have to be doubted is hours away… but likewise some very rude words have been ‘spelt’ using calculations…
AI as learning personalizer… is this a school disruptor? coming soon~so start thinking/sharing things you think AI/robotics can’t replicate/replace/enhance/better individualize…
Technolandy 
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