AI: Limitless Possiblities
Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT are things I know next to nothing about. The videos we watched this week were helpful for me. I decided to download the app on my phone and take it for a spin, just to see what the fuss was all about. I created a prototype of a letter of recommendation for a friend, however, it required a lot of editing to make it something that could be usable for me. I did not check to see if it registered as “AI generated”, but I think that would have been interesting to find out, having edited it a good bit. [1]
I teach mathematics in the upper elementary level. Believe it or not, I have students that ask me all the time if they can get AI to do their homework for them. I tell them no – but for all I know, when they’re at home they could be using AI. I really have no idea. It’s not like a fifth grader has difficult math homework. They’re just looking for an easy way to get it done.
What are the dangers, limits and possibilities of AI for your studies?
I believe the dangers of AI lie in relying on it too heavily to do your thinking for you. You could even read less of the material, in theory, and depend more on the program and it’s knowledge of the topic at hand to produce a coherent essay or blog post. This is especially true if you use the newer version of AI that produces citations. [2]
Some of the limits of AI lie particularly in the realm of logic and mathematical reasoning. The program uses predicative abilities based on words used to create sentences. [3] It doesn’t really reason and answer questions.
My own personal feelings about it are that I understand it is advanced technology, and it’s here to stay. I do. It’s just going to get more and more advanced with time. However, there’s a part of the teacher in me that says it just doesn’t feel right using it to do my assignments. It feels like it lacks integrity. It feels like cheating to me. That’s for me personally. Now, I did use it that one time to try to write a letter of recommendation for a friend. But I ended up rewriting nearly the entire letter. So all that AI provided for that letter ended up being the format. Maybe in time, and with more familiarity with ChatGPT I will come to change my mind about it. I don’t know.
But then, I look it another way, and what really is the difference between using ChatGPT and downloading a form letter in Microsoft Word for a letter of recommendation? I don’t have all the answers. There seems to be a lot of gray area here.
I think for me, this is something I will have to dabble around with a little at a time to become more acquainted with. Perhaps by the end of the semester I will have changed my feelings concerning ChatGPT, and will have written a blog post using it.
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Baud, David. AssessmentAI, Link.
[1] Webb, Michael, “Chat GPT-3 and its Impact on Education: Michael Webb, Link.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.ChatGPT
About the Author
Tonette Kellett
Missionary, teacher, Bible student, traveler ... Having lived in Kenya and Korea, I now live in Mississippi and work with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.7 responses to “AI: Limitless Possiblities”
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Great post, Tonette. I agree with you. It can be a blessing or a curse just like anything can if not used correctly. I’m also new to it but I do find it beneficial on some levels. I’ve never asked it anything that I would use exactly the way it was written by AI though. I think it takes the personality out of writing.
Michael,
Thank you for your response to my post. “It takes the personality out of writing” is exactly what I was trying to put into words. Thank you! That ChatGPT may have created a letter of recommendation, but it sounded nothing like me. I ended up rewriting nearly the entire thing. So there you go! It did offer an outline for me, and give me some ideas to include in my own letter. In that way, it was helpful.
Tonnett, you, as a teacher, are on the frontlines of wrestling with the implication of AI usage in education. What worries me is the lack of rigor in education if AI is un-critically adopted. I think of Angela Duckworth’s content on grit. She was an educator and found that the students who did the best and succeeded were not those who were the smartest. The naturally smart kids did not have to work as hard. Rather, the kids who succeeded were the kids of average intelligence who worked hard. They developed grit. I fear that the development of grit will be affected as we adopt AI. My hope is that AI opens doors of opportunity for us to develop grit in new ways.
David,
I agree with you in the hope for AI that it will develop grit in us as students. I still am unsure about what the future holds for it, and am hesitant to use it myself on assignments. We’ll see I guess how it will unfold.
David,
Your comments on grit by Angela Duckworth are spot on. I too worry about how students will be affected by AI as it is adopted mainstream. I’m hoping that there will be checks and balances added along the way that will make it a beneficial program, and not a crutch.
Which app did you try?
How do you think that you could use AI in your classroom with your students?
Alana,
I used ChatGPT. I teach primarily Mathematics. I really don’t know how I can use it with my students to be honest. If I taught language or social studies I might have better ideas. But with math, I just don’t know.