AI can do your homework. Now what?

Summary

The video script discusses the impact of AI language models, particularly ChatGPT, on education. It highlights the surge in student usage, the debate over their use for cheating, and the challenges educators face in adapting to this new technology. The script explores the potential of AI as a learning tool, the limitations of detection software, and the importance of critical thinking and self-regulation in the age of AI. It emphasizes the need for a balanced approach to integrating AI into the educational process, focusing on learning outcomes rather than just the final product.

Takeaways

• 📈 Web traffic for ChatGPT peaked in April and then declined, possibly due to summer break.
• 📚 A significant majority of students (91%) have tried ChatGPT, with 60% using it regularly.
• 🎓 ChatGPT's ability to produce grammatically perfect and well-structured text has been utilized by students as a 'cheat code'.
• 🤖 AI language models are being developed and refined by the American software industry, with applications in education.
• 🏫 The use of chatbots in education is a complex issue, with educators divided on how to handle their integration.
• 🚫 Banning AI in schools involves blocking websites, using detection software, and shifting work to in-class activities.
• 🔍 AI detection software is imperfect, with potential for false positives and biases against non-native English speakers.
• 📝 Alternatives to AI detection include certifying human writing through tracking typing patterns and other methods.
• 🤔 The debate on AI in education raises questions about the role of technology in learning and the need for critical literacy.
• 💡 ChatGPT and similar AI tools can be used for a variety of educational tasks, from summarizing information to providing feedback on writing.
• 🌟 The key challenge in education is to ensure that technology aids learning rather than simply making tasks easier.

Q & A

What was the initial perception of AI-generated text after the peak in Web traffic for ChatGPT?

Some people thought AI-generated text was just a fad after the initial peak in Web traffic for ChatGPT.

What percentage of students surveyed said they use ChatGPT?

About 60% of the students surveyed said they use ChatGPT.

How did students initially react to the news about ChatGPT being used for cheating?

After headlines about students using ChatGPT to cheat, some students decided to use it themselves, considering it a 'cheat code'.

What capabilities do the most advanced AI language models have, according to the script?

The most advanced AI language models can analyze data, read image files, and write at the college level.

What was the outcome of the research project where professors graded essays written by ChatGPT?

The essays written by ChatGPT received all A's and B's from the professors.

What are the two main approaches educators are considering regarding AI in education?

Educators are considering either allowing students to use AI technology or trying to prevent students from using it.

What are the limitations of AI detection software in detecting AI-generated text?

AI detection software can have false positives and is not always accurate, especially on longer samples of text or text that hasn't been edited.

How does the script suggest students should use AI chatbots responsibly?

Students should use AI chatbots as a supplement to their education journey, focusing on using them for brainstorming, outlining, and improving their work, rather than for outright cheating or replacing their own thinking.

What is the importance of 'desirable difficulties' in the learning process?

Desirable difficulties refer to effortful participation that is effective for learning but may feel uncomfortable or challenging. It encourages active engagement and helps with better retention and understanding of the material.

How does the script relate the use of GPS to the potential impact of AI on learning?

The script compares the use of GPS, which can lead to disengagement from learning spatial skills, to the potential impact of AI, where students might rely on AI to provide answers without engaging in the learning process.

What is the main message the script conveys about the use of AI in education?

The main message is that while AI can be a powerful tool, it's important for students to use it responsibly and not let it replace the effortful learning process. Educators and students should find a balance between utilizing AI's capabilities and maintaining critical thinking and personal growth.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Web Traffic and Student Usage of ChatGPT

This paragraph discusses the initial surge and subsequent dip in Web traffic to ChatGPT, followed by a resurgence during the school year. It highlights the significant percentage of students who have tried or are using ChatGPT for their schoolwork, which some view as a form of cheating. The speaker reflects on the potential for AI language models to revolutionize education and the challenges educators face in adapting to these new tools. The paragraph also touches on the debate over whether to ban or embrace AI in the classroom, the limitations of AI detection software, and the need for educators to reassess traditional assignment formats.

05:01

🤖 The Integration of AI in Education and Society

The second paragraph explores the broader implications of AI in education and society. It questions the logic of banning AI chatbots in schools when they are integrated into various technologies outside of education. The speaker discusses the potential benefits of AI as a supplement to learning, the importance of critical literacy, and the challenges of distinguishing between helpful and misused AI assistance. The paragraph also addresses the limitations of AI, such as generating false information, and the need for students to engage in the learning process rather than relying solely on AI-generated content.

10:02

📚 Balancing AI Assistance with Learning Objectives

This paragraph delves into the educational debate on how to effectively use AI in the learning process. It contrasts the passive consumption of information with active engagement in learning, using the analogy of GPS navigation and its impact on spatial abilities. The speaker emphasizes the importance of 'desirable difficulties' in the learning process and the risk that AI might undermine these efforts. The paragraph also discusses the misconceptions students have about their learning effectiveness and the need for educators to guide students in using AI as a tool for growth rather than a shortcut.

15:05

🧠 The Cognitive Impact of AI on Student Development

The final paragraph reflects on the cognitive and developmental impact of AI on students. It discusses the challenges of self-regulation in using AI responsibly and the potential consequences of relying on AI for easy solutions. The speaker acknowledges the difficulty of asking students to navigate the complex landscape of AI and the uncertainty of future job markets. The paragraph concludes with a call for students to build their own mental maps of knowledge and to understand the value of the learning journey over the end product.

Keywords

💡AI-generated text

AI-generated text refers to content created by artificial intelligence, specifically in this context, by AI language models like ChatGPT. These models can produce human-like written content, which has sparked discussions about its use in education and potential for academic dishonesty. In the video, it's mentioned that students use AI to generate grammatically perfect writing, which raises concerns about the authenticity of their work.

💡ChatGPT

ChatGPT is an AI language model developed by OpenAI that can generate human-like text based on prompts. It has become a topic of interest in the educational sector due to its ability to assist with writing tasks. The video highlights the prevalence of ChatGPT usage among students and the challenges it poses to traditional educational practices.

💡Academic dishonesty

Academic dishonesty refers to the act of violating academic standards, such as plagiarism or cheating on assignments. The video script discusses concerns that AI tools like ChatGPT may facilitate academic dishonesty by enabling students to submit work that is not their own.

💡AI language models

AI language models are algorithms that can understand and generate natural language text. They are trained on large datasets and can perform various language tasks, such as answering questions, summarizing text, or even creating new content. The video emphasizes the evolving capabilities of these models and their impact on education.

💡Educational technology

Educational technology (EdTech) refers to the use of technology to enhance teaching, learning, and educational administration. The video explores the role of AI language models as a form of EdTech and the challenges they present, such as the need for new strategies to ensure learning outcomes.

💡Critical literacy

Critical literacy is the ability to read and interpret texts critically, questioning the information presented and understanding the context and biases. The video emphasizes the importance of critical literacy in the age of AI, as students need to evaluate the credibility of AI-generated content.

💡Desirable difficulties

Desirable difficulties are challenges that, while making learning more effortful, ultimately lead to better learning outcomes. The video argues that AI tools might undermine these difficulties by making the learning process too easy, which could negatively impact the educational value.

💡Active learning

Active learning involves students in the learning process through participation, problem-solving, and critical thinking. The video contrasts passive learning methods, like lectures, with active learning, which is considered more effective for long-term retention and understanding.

💡Metacognition

Metacognition is the awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes. It involves self-reflection and the ability to monitor and regulate one's learning. The video suggests that students may misjudge their learning effectiveness based on the fluency of the learning experience.

💡Struggling in learning

Struggling in learning refers to the challenges and difficulties encountered during the educational process. The video argues that struggling is a natural and beneficial part of learning, as it promotes deeper understanding and critical thinking.

💡Self-regulation

Self-regulation in the context of learning refers to the ability of students to manage their own learning process, set goals, and monitor their progress. The video highlights the importance of self-regulation as students navigate the use of AI tools in their educational journey.

Highlights

Web traffic to ChatGPT peaked in April and then dipped, possibly due to summer break.

Around 60% of students reported using ChatGPT, and 91% have tried it.

Students used ChatGPT as a 'cheat code' for schoolwork, with some citing its ability to produce grammatically perfect writing.

American software industry is racing to refine AI language models, also known as chatbots.

Free chatbots can respond to assignments across various middle and high school subjects.

Advanced models, often paid, can analyze data, read image files, and write at a college level.

ChatGPT-written essays received A's and B's from freshman year professors.

Educators are struggling with how to integrate AI into education, with no clear consensus on the best approach.

Banning AI involves blocking websites, using detection software, and shifting work to class hours.

Detection software for AI-generated text is imperfect and can lead to false positives.

Some educators prefer to allow AI usage responsibly rather than outright banning it.

The International Baccalaureate program suggests AI should not be banned as it will become a daily tool like spell checkers and calculators.

ChatGPT can generate text that is not only grammatically correct but also factually incorrect.

Critical literacy is important when using AI, as it can provide plausible but false information.

AI chatbots can be used for a variety of tasks, from answering homework questions to writing drafts.

The challenge with AI is preserving the effortful participation that leads to real learning.

Active learning methods, which involve struggle, are more effective than passive lectures.

Students often misinterpret struggle as a sign of ineffective learning, which can be problematic with AI tools.

AI can be used to help with challenging texts or to critique writing, but students must discern when to use it.

The goal of education is to build a mental map of the world, and AI tools must be used in a way that supports this.

The responsibility of self-regulation with AI tools is a significant challenge for students and educators.

Transcripts

if you were watching the Web traffic to ChatGPT,

since it was released by OpenAI,

you would have seen the visits peak in April

and then start dipping down.

Some people thought maybe

AI-generated text was just a fad after all.

But now it seems like maybe that was just summer break.

I was not prepared for the amount of students

that were using it. It felt like a cheat code, right?

About 60% said that they use ChatGPT.

91% have at least tried ChatGPT.

It's a high number.

After the headlines said students were using it to cheat,

I used it to cheat.

Pieces of writing that are grammatically perfect.

Everything was capitalized correctly.

And if I was in their shoes,

There was a way that I could do my schoolwork, like, quickly--

I would have been that kid. I would have took it.

I would have took it 100%.

So here's where we're at right now:

The American software industry is racing to release and refine

AI language models, which I’ll call chatbots in this video.

It hasn't been obvious to everyone

what they should be used for,

but it has been obvious to a lot of students.

The freely available chatbots can respond to assignments

across a bunch of middle and high school subjects.

And the most advanced models,

which you generally have to pay for, can analyze data,

read image files, and write at the college level.

I did a little research project where I asked my freshman year

professors to grade essays written by ChatGPT.

And they got all A's and B's.

And so this was just like very striking to me.

I wanted to find out what this means for education.

So I talked to students from eighth grade to grad school;

I talked to teachers and professors and experts in learning.

And bear with us because they're right in the middle of this.

And it's complicated,

and they don't really agree about how to proceed.

So we'll also take a look

at some of the research on how learning works.

To see how students can be strategic in the age of AI.

We don't want to send that message to our our young people,

you know, to ignore the things that scare us.

We have to learn about it, learn from it, learn how to use it.

But it's a lot of extra labor and it's coming on the heels

of like three years of pandemic-based

sort of reworking of our teaching.

And so we're all tired.

The days

of like giving assignments

to students and having them work on it at home are over.

I would love if they were using this as a great

thinking tool, but that's that's really not what's happening.

And so I think educators are asking ourselves, well,

how do we know that students have learned?

Right now, educators face a choice between two pretty murky paths.

They could allow students to use this technology,

or they could try to prevent students from using it.

Let's tackle that one first.

Banning AI looks like some combination

of blocking the websites on school networks and computers; using A.I.

detection software to try to catch generated text;

and shifting more work into class hours and onto paper.

But the students and teachers that I spoke to, they don't love these options.

I don't want my students to feel like they're under this kind of policing.

I go from teacher to sort of hall monitor

and that's not a desirable teaching relationship.

But at the same time, I do want to know that they're doing the work.

A lot of our kids are really, really good at getting around the school firewalls.

But even if they couldn't access it on their laptops,

I mean, they have it on their phones,

I'm not letting them take anything home.

I want everything to be written in class.

The last two midterms I had were in-class papers

and it felt like I was in high school and I hated it.

I really don't know how you prevent students from using A.I.

because the detection softwares are really imperfect.

There will be false positives that the false positives

are going to be awkward situations with the teacher and the student.

I have a problem accusing a kid of using ChatGPT or using A.I.

when I'm not at 100%.

So I have found the detector helpful.

It's not perfect. We know it's not perfect.

To avoid detection is basically cycle it a couple of times within the software.

Change whole sections of it, add sentences, remove sentences,

and chances are, unfortunately,

professors are not going to detect that.

One of my other friends, he's a great guy.

I'm not going to say that

he's like a horrible person or something,

but like if he can get away without getting caught at all

for like four terms, I'm going to be pretty skeptical

of the AI-detection abilities.

After ChatGPT came out, a bunch of tools popped up

saying that they could detect A.I. writing.

But if you look at OpenAI’s educator FAQ, they say detectors don't work.

So which is it?

Well, they work sometimes.

That's the era we're living in. We have technologies that make guesses.

We can say that the detectors are generally more accurate on longer samples of text

and on text that hasn't been edited at all.

Some detectors may be biased against non-native English speakers.

So be careful there. And you'll want to check if the tool you're using

is transparent about how often it's wrong.

I couldn't find error rates for these detectors, so who knows if they're really testing the product.

There's an alternative to detecting AI,

which is certifying human writing by doing things like tracking typing patterns and pastes and time spent.

GPT Zero's writing report even offers a reenactment of the document being written.

Maybe more and more writing will be done under this kind of surveillance,

but it doesn't apply to other kinds of assignments.

And at some point we have to ask if it makes sense to prohibit chat bots for school.

when tech companies are inserting them everywhere else.

Notion. Snapchat. Google Docs. They have that “help me write.”

But and that's built right into the document.

It really raises the question of, do I have to cite the work of the

AI now lest I face academic consequences?

And students aren't the only ones finding them useful.

I immediately got really excited about using it because I knew it would save hours of my life.

Say one, of the first things I said was I create a lot of resources using chatbots

because it's a good support for me

Creating readings for students. Questions that your students can answer.

For giving feedback on essays.

It feels a little disingenuous being like you can't use it at all.

But I am using AI to generate the stuff for this class.

So let's take a look at the other path,

which is allowing students to use but not misuse A.I. chatbots.

I think A.I. is a wonderful supplement to students’ education journeys

as long as it's used responsibly.

if we don't embrace it while we're in school, which is where we learn how to do things,

you're going to end up with with a future generation that's struggling

to adapt to its surroundings.

We should be figuring out how,

you know, our students can benefit from it

instead of just trying to outright ban it.

Because that feels ridiculous.

That feels absolutely ridiculous.

The International Baccalaureate program

says AI shouldn't be banned

because it will become part of our everyday lives like spell

checkers, translation software and calculators.

Calculator’s not so scary.

It frees up time on the tedious stuff

so that students can move on to more complex problems.

But there are a couple of ways that I'd say this is different from that.

For one: Calculators don't make things up.

It gave me some quotes, I thought, this is perfect.

But when I tried to search it,

I put these sources into Google, and all of them were fake.

That quote isn't in the book, like they didn't exist at all.

I was able to generate text about the “near extinction

of the the Yahgan people,” which isn't true at all.

What's the difference between a consequent

boundary and subsequent boundary?

And I don't remember exactly what ChatGPT

said, but they got it wrong.

The less you know about something, the more likely

you are to be convinced by ChatGPT's answer.

That was when I really realized that I was like,

this is --you have to be very careful.

So critical literacy is important

but we have that problem with humans as well.

Chatbots work by predicting a plausible sequence of words.

That makes them more flawed than calculators and spell checkers,

but it also makes them much more broad.

Let me list some of the things

a student can ask a chatbot for.

And while I do that, think about

which of these you would consider a misuse:

Answers to a homework question.

Background information on a topic.

Definitions or explanations of a concept.

Sources to find more information.

Summaries of readings and lectures.

Study guides for an exam.

Ideas for how to respond to an assignment.

Instructions for solving a problem.

An outline for a paper or presentation.

Examples, analogies, and counterarguments.

A draft of a paper or a discussion post.

A script for a presentation.

Feedback on their work.

A revision of a text to improve it.

A revision of a text to change its word count, and more.

Some of these definitely seem helpful for learning, but others,

it's not so clear.

Is it okay to ask a chatbot for information?

I'll typically ask ChatGPT to just to summarize

that topic into easy to read bullet points.

I don't see that as very different from getting on Wikipedia.

Most of the students talked about using ChatGPT

in particular almost as a kind of Wikipedia,

and I really quickly was like, Ooh,

I don't think that's the best way to use these tools.

Is it okay to get ideas from a chatbot?

I think in terms of outlining and brainstorming,

I think that's actually fairly low risk.

When it comes to generating ideas,

it's not really giving you an inspiration.

It's giving you an answer.

My friends and I were brainstorming different topics and one was like, No, no.

Quit thinking. I already looked for it on ChatGPT and they have this incredible idea and we can delve into these

but we did write all the text on our own.

It's not like we copy and paste because

that is cheating.

What about using AI to write a paper

after you've done the research and analysis?

If it's all your ideas and ChatGPT is the editor,

the product is all yours. It's just been aided.

One of the things that we do when we're writing is

we're figuring out what we think. And then ChatGPT reorganizes

things, adds some facts that I didn't know.

And then my take is like, that's pretty much what I said, right?

And it's not really.

I think the reason they disagree on

how to handle this tool is that it isn't really a tool--

It wasn't built to do some specific task.

Now there will be tools that are constrained

to act more like tutors.

But OpenAI says they're trying to build "general intelligence."

General meaning something more like a student

than a calculator.

The difference is that calculators don't like,

don't make the equation for you.

Calculators don't like come up with a creative solution.

Meanwhile, ChatGPT gives you all of the steps.

It's I'd say a lot easier,

at least for me to just, like, read something

and then write it down than to, like,

actually think about something.

They're not going to get that opportunity to sit there

and really go from A to B to C,

when you can go from A to C really quickly for them.

You know, maybe it's just easier

to just take the ChatGPT generation,

like the generated response,

and then just tweak it to sound more like me

than to create my own original piece of work

if my work is going to be like, not as good.

Sometimes with the grades and the GPAs and everything,

it can feel like the point of school assignments is to evaluate students when really

the point is the learning that happens along the way.

The grades are there to monitor the learning.

And as my friend Denzel points out,

You can’t grade someone on something that's not theirs.

So let's take a look at how learning works.

And this is where the challenge to education really lies,

because technology is usually supposed to make things easy.

But the research shows that real learning

requires things to be a little bit hard.

Let me give you an example.

I used GPS almost constantly to get around the city.

It tells me which train or bus I need, which

subway exit to take, basically how to walk.

A bunch of studies have looked

at how this affects our spatial abilities

because, hey, maybe watching this app

produce instructions for my route

is teaching me how to get around.

You know, it's giving me all of these examples to learn from.

But no, the experiments consistently show that turn by turn

navigation leaves us with poorer spatial knowledge of the area.

That's because the tech lets us "disengage from our environment."

If I really wanted to build a cognitive map of the space,

that requires "active engagement in the navigation process,"

And that means making decisions, which is hard.

And I may decide that it's fine to offload my spatial

learning to this app and just expect

that it will always be there for me.

But what about learning in other domains like in school?

There's a really interesting study from a few years back

where they divided college students into two classrooms

that covered the exact same physics lesson,

but in different ways.

One class presented the material in a passive lecture.

And it was done in a way that it would mimic

a lecture from a super lecturer,

you know, like very smooth, very, very fluent.

The other class used an active learning method

where the students were put into small groups

and then given unfamiliar problems to work on.

They weren't given much direction.

So it was a bit frustrating.

And then the instructor would interrupt them

and then explain, basically give them the feedback

of how an expert thinks about these things.

At the end of the class, they asked the students

if they felt like they learned a great deal from the session,

and the students who received the passive lecture said

that they learned more than those who did the active learning class.

They were also more likely to say

that all of their physics classes should be taught that way.

They preferred just watching the lecture, but they were wrong.

Tests on the material showed that the students in the active participation class

actually learned more of the information.

It turns out that we're not great at judging how well we're learning.

Whenever we try and judge

if a learning experience is productive or not,

the strongest metacognitive cue, that we use

is perception of fluency.

Fluency is when information is going down easy.

It's well presented, it's organized, it's convenient.

Fluency is the reason why students tend to reread their notes

and textbooks when they're studying,

when really they should be giving themselves quizzes

or trying to explain the material in their own words.

Education researchers have this term "desirable difficulties,"

which describes this kind of effortful participation

that really works but also kind of hurts.

And the risk with AI

is that we might not preserve that effort,

especially because we already tend to misinterpret

a little bit of struggling as a signal that we're not learning.

I want them to know that struggling is okay.

It's not about getting the right answer.

It's not about having the correct opinion.

You do not become a better writer by just editing other people's work.

You do it through the struggle.

The text is kind of like the snakeskin of the growth.

You can replicate the snakeskin,

but there's a reason you chose to be in this room.

And the reason is the path.

The reason isn't the product.

So with all that said, we can look back at those prompts

and ask, is this making the work easy for me?

Or is it motivating me to try the hard things?

So you could use a chatbot to avoid

reading a challenging text,

or you could use it to work through that text

and help you get more out of it.

I tried to read like the Prose Edda.

And it was just impossible to read for me.

It was very, very hard.

I think that ChatGPT might be able

to, you know, parse through some of the harder language, simplify things,

You could use it to answer questions for you

or it could inspire you to ask questions

you wouldn't have asked before.

If you have a question in class

and you're not sure what to do with it, now your first step, instead of going

to a teaching assistantor a friend, might be to ask you about

You could use it to write or rewrite your words to sound perfect,

or you could ask it to critique your writing, and then you decide how you want to make changes.

Where are their problems in the logic? Where are there,

you know, sentences that aren't clear and so on?

There's a point in which the student has to make that realization and say,

okay, this is where I need to work on this.

And this is like, this is where I need to use ChatGPT,

and this is where I need to not use ChatGPT.

But I feel like it's just like asking for trouble because

high schoolers, man.

Our schools and teachers prompt us to build our own mental map of the world

where we can connect ideas and perspectives

and knowledge across space and time.

And you want to have that map to help you navigate your future

and find your place in the human story.

But from now on, there will always be companies

offering you turn by turn directions instead.

And you might think I'm a kid.

That's a lot of self-regulation to ask

from someone whose brain is still cooking.

I mean, we're still trying to figure out

how to manage these things.

And adults don't even know

what AI's is going to look like in ten years,

let alone what jobs will exist.

Isn't that kind of a lot to put on us?

And my response to that is, yeah,

it is.