Growing use of AI leaves questions about purpose
Shelby Hesman
Guest Writer
Cheat sheet or writing aid? ChatGPT is a chatbot that uses software to create natural-like human conversations. ChatGPT is a form of “Generative AI” meaning “a tool that lets users enter prompts to receive humanlike images, text or videos that are created by AI,” according to Amanda Hetler, senior editor of Tech Target, a tech news site. Generative AI could create anything you want it to, just by asking the chatbot questions. So are school boards bringing AI technology into the classroom too early?
Many people around the world are using artificial intelligence to do some tasks for them. For example a wedding officiant who procrastinated his speech can ask GPT-3 to write his officiant speech. Then within seconds, the chatbot created a whole speech for the wedding officiant. Another example is a Journalism Professor at Columbia University who loves music and demands “vibe” music during his breaks between classes. So he put the Generative AI to the test, asking for a specific type of music. Once again in just seconds a queue of songs added to a playlist was made for him. These are just two examples of simple tasks people have used AI for. However, when will it end?
Artificial Intelligence is just like the depths of the great oceans. We do not know everything the chatbots can do. Any machine that does good also has the potential to do bad, just like how scientists are trying to design a version of AI that helps with pain management. However, “what about the opposite — using AI to simulate pain through a person’s central nervous system?” asked Justin Stolzfus on a blog-style post Techopedia. Some companies are trying to manufacture technology so when a player gets stabbed or shot in a video game, they would be able to feel that physical aspect of the pain in reality. Companies are wanting to try and obtain “direct heat applications and certain types of impact” that will feel like the real thing to the body, according to Stolzfus. There are a lot of ways this new type of technology could go wrong. It could go overboard and lead to some negative applications. AI is a very scary thing. Yes it helps with asked questions but technology is a very distracting thing to the new generations. The more that technology and AI are talked about in the classroom the greater the urge to use them will surface to those younger generations.
Is it smart to take away the truly traditional way of learning? Just as there is good and bad with AI in the health sector, the education sector needs to be examined. Many teachers are proving face-to-face communication is very important in young students’ minds. Just ponder at how much COVID-19 affected everyone when the mask mandate was placed on many towns worldwide. Face-to face communication really “encourages engagement and participation in meetings and builds a company culture of trust,” according to Author Maggie Wooll. The way of communication through education could disappear in a matter of seconds. AI is simply just allowing students to find shortcuts in their education, or even finding creative ways to dodge the traditional learning methods. Students nowadays are seeing school work and even homework as a burden. They see it as the school system sucking away the fun they have in their lives. Now, AI is a very tempting and easy solution.
With all this information, does that mean that school boards are bringing the idea of AI to young minds too early? Many teachers are unable to catch when a student is using AI on an assignment or a written paper of theirs. This is causing a problem for many school boards. They have to use more software to catch if their students are cheating. Using AI in higher education for not its intended purpose is bewildering to many, because many students are here to learn and become someone in their future. Many other students are paying to be in college, why would they throw all that away in just one paper written by an A. chatbot. Everyone thinks differently so the answer to this AI question may be different for everyone.
