ChatGPT: School's Out for AI

When I was in school, teachers would often say, "You won’t have a calculator everywhere you go." This, of course, proved false with the advent of smartphones. Now, with AI tools like ChatGPT, we find ourselves in a similar situation. As Albert Einstein allegedly responded when asked the speed of light: "I don't know, I look it up."

Some teachers have tried to prohibit students from using ChatGPT, seeing it as cheating. However, students continue to use it anyway - it's use surges when school is in. And is it really cheating? Or is it simply using an available tool to achieve more than one could do alone?

I can walk 5 km per hour, drive 100 km per hour in a car, or fly 900 km per hour in a commercial plane. Using faster modes of transport isn’t considered cheating – it’s merely being resourceful. ChatGPT is similar in the intellectual realm. Rather than condemning this technology, we should adapt what we teach to equip students for working alongside AI.

For instance, rather than memorizing facts students can simply look up, more focus could be placed on interpreting information, critical thinking, and detecting limits in AI systems. When ChatGPT provides flawed arguments or reasoning, do students recognize where it falters? Understanding the strengths and limitations of tools like ChatGPT will become increasingly vital.

As Einstein’s quote illustrates, even brilliant experts need to reference information sometimes. Rote memorization of vast amounts of facts is less essential with AI assistants available. Certainly, foundational knowledge is still crucial, but perhaps we can move beyond some outdated practices begun in the pre-computer era.

The key skills needed today include prompt engineering, framing problems clearly, probing the bounds of an AI tool’s capabilities, and reconciling discrepancies in its output. Students well-versed in these areas will have an advantage in our technology-driven world. Rather than considering AI a cheat, we should recognize it as a new reality to instill media literacy around. Just as past generations learned typing and computer skills, students now need trained judgement in leveraging AI wisely.

The question for educators is no longer whether to allow AI tools in the classroom, but how best to integrate them. By teaching to complement rather than compete with technology like ChatGPT, schools can better develop critical thinkers and ethical AI users. The machines are here to accelerate human knowledge rather than replace it. Let’s make sure students understand that distinction.

#ChatGPT #AI #FutureOfEducation #CriticalThinking #MediaLiteracy