Is a Robot Doing Your Child’s Homework?

I constantly ask ChatGPT to write code and prompt in a way that asks the learning system to design a prompt that it thinks would be most effective. This cyclical process begs the question, do we as humans know how best to integrate AI, or does AI have enough intelligence, already, to say it better than humans do? I wanted to see if it was capable of what I thought it was…

I currently teach 7th grade English. I just finished my seventh year of public classroom education as an English teacher in grades 6-12. So as a writer, I was curious, can AI pass as human? I thought that perhaps it could. Now that I can see first-hand what AI is doing to young learners and their reliance on technology to write, I worry that mainstream use may be more harmful than we are realizing on an academic and learning level. How can young people learn to write effectively, when there is a tool that can actively do it better than they can??

I tell students, “I’m a bigger AI nerd than you, so I can spot it if you use it a mile away”. And still, many students try to pass off essays, creative prompts, full horror stories, final research essays, and even short discussion post responses (2-3 sentences or less) with various forms of AI technology. Will students be able to write effectively in the future? I’m actually not sure…

I tell my students that my generation is labeled the internet generation. I was lucky enough to have a father obsessed with technology. I had my own computer in my room when I was six years old. To this day, if I go for coffee and spot someone's desktop, filled with icons and saved images to the absolute brim, I shudder, and just imagine what their car looks like…?

I tell my students that whether they like it or not, they are the AI generation. I don’t believe that students are learning skills in public schools that will adequately prepare them for the tasks that will be required for employment in a future driven by AI technology.

Even now, when I show other teachers an AI solution like ChatGPT, the response is generally a sense of fear surrounding the power of the learning structures running behind the scenes. This technology that is now teaching itself. It goes against the philosophy of everything computers have ever done. People need to remember that the root of computer use is input > output.

In the past, users created programs, software, and hardware that responded to human coding languages and inputs that created computer driven responses. New AI technology is now generating self-driven input. If you are a coder, it is often frustrating to work for an hour on what might be deemed a simple script that ChatGPT can generate in seconds.

The people with the skills to translate what these systems are learning on their own will be incredibly useful, and more than ever, coding is a vital social skill. We will need people that are able to understand the complex nature of the tasks that these systems are attempting to complete while also understanding the value these systems can contribute to society.

I've had a lot of conversations in the English classroom that look like this:

"Hey can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I want you to know that I'm a huge AI nerd... and I have to say, this looks a lot like AI to me."

"What? No, I wrote that... how do you know?"

"Well, it's written at an extremely high level and the use of commas and some specific words, and the fact that it has literally zero errors, seems a bit unusual to me."

"No, I wrote it..."

"I grade hundreds of essays a year... I know it when I see it..."

"No, I wrote it."

"Ok, in that case. What does the word ephemeral mean?"

CONFUSED, DEFEATED LOOK

"Try again, but do it yourself this time..."

STUDENT SAUNTERS BACK TO DESK

This is the world we are now living in. Teachers need to be able to understand the damage that this can do to students who are already struggling to learn and succeed academically. AI in English learning has become the new "well, why do I need to know how to do math when I have a calculator in my pocket at all times". I think we all know the dangers of this philosophy.

Ultimately, I hope this article will alert some parents of the potential that their students may be using advanced technology to do their tasks for them. In a sense, this is exactly what AI is designed to do. Students that are already implementing this technology and learning these skills are actually learning crucial future skills, whether academics and educators want to admit it or not.

But more academic systems need to be teaching about the ethics of AI: the systems are designed to help users learn and perform tasks that can be easily automated, however, there is a huge risk-loss situation positioned towards society if learning tasks are completely eliminated via automated learning systems.

Of course, there will always be a huge need for leadership; people that can manage and create effective workspaces for others. There will be all types of roles necessary to make this new AI-based society work effectively. But in the end, if we want to be effective in a society that is currently being shifted by AI technology in front of our eyes, new skills and focuses need to be placed on academic learning systems as we look towards a future that is wildly AI-centered.

P.S. the word ephemeral means "something short-lived, fleeting, or transient. It describes things that are temporary and don't last for a long time. For example, a butterfly's beauty is ephemeral because it only lasts for a few weeks before it dies". And just in case you're wondering, this English teacher used ChatGPT to look that up.