Plato once quoted Socrates lamenting that “if men learn this, they will implant forgetfulness in their souls; “They will stop exercising their memory because they trust what is written.”1 The ancient philosopher was talking, of course, about the latest technology of the BC era: handwritten scrolls.
As humans, we’ve always had a somewhat complicated history with invention. On the one hand, we feel driven to create tools that make our lives more efficient, but we also can’t help but feel a little insecure about these new steps, even when we are forced to take them. With every new technology comes a great fear that our previous ways of knowing are being lost. It goes with the territory, so to speak, whether we live in ancient times or here in the 21st century.
Last spring, my university held an emergency faculty meeting on identifying articles written with artificial intelligence. After the release of ChatGPT In Fall 2022, we noticed that some of our students had suddenly become “experts” at synthesizing research and organizing their term papers, often resulting in perfect scores on their written assignments. It was a bit of a dizzying experience trying to stay ahead of the technology as we looked for ways to cope with this impressive new platform, seemingly well-equipped to help our students complete their assignments effortlessly.
We’d been here before, in the ’90s, when we were almost certain that Internet search engines had completely ruined higher education. Despite those first days of insecurity, we decided to learn on our own to Lean on to technology instead of distancing ourselves from it. Teachers and librarians began to integrate online formats into the learning experience, with great success and often with highly desired results. It worked perfectly!
But just when we were relaxing into a sense of mastery, ai came along and unexpectedly changed the whole thing.
With our lessons on how to lean not far behind us, we knew we had to embrace this new technology. We also knew that the detection software was not far behind and, in fact, was released the following quarter. After all, the best way to master a monster is to create a more powerful one.
However, in our rush to control the technology, we may have initially overlooked the gifts we had been given through ai. Truly, this new invention can take us to the next level of learning, and we are only now unleashing its full potential in our classrooms.
Ways that students and educators can benefit from the use of ai include:
- Creating an opportunity to rethink gender equality in technology
- Offering support to people learning English as a second language.
- Enable alternative instructional techniques for atypical learning
- Teach students to share and sharpen their thoughts.
An opportunity to rethink gender equality in technology
Gender inequality in technological development and user design is a well-known challenge; Expanding the use of technology is part of the solution. Melinda Gates has recently offered a series of tech/2023/06/29/melinda-gates-women-in-ai-cnntm-vpx.cnn” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>interviews sounding the alarm about ai‘s inherent male-centric bias, among other concerns.
For ai to become a more neutral and individual-oriented tool, educators can commit to teaching and supporting the use of gender decoders, which are algorithms that detect lack of gender inclusion, and other modalities aimed at achieving balance in design.
On a large scale, the United Nations is working on an agenda to address this and other concerns at the global level. Global Digital Pact session in fall 2024, which aims to “outline shared principles for an open, free and secure digital future for all.” However, on an individual level, each of us can encourage and inspire the students in our classrooms to consider how to address issues as complex as gender bias in their own use (and design) of technological tools. The gender gap in STEM remains an area of much-needed attention that we, as educators, can actively work to improve in our daily lessons.
Support for people learning English as a second language
ai offers English learners new and improved avenues for more effective communication. ai language modeling tools can help students with pronunciation, grammar, and translation, responding responsively in real time through simulated chats and quiz techniques.
Some formats even allow students to generate 3D images based on your written instructions, creating an instant multi-sensory experience while they work on their language skills. The benefit to our classrooms is immeasurable here, as it can engage students at their level of proficiency, helping them keep up with their peers and the flow of class material.
This technology can also be reversed, helping English-speaking students in the acquisition of a foreign language. These tools lay the foundation to meet the needs of a 21st century economy, where global communication skills are essential for students and teachers alike.
Alternative Instruction for Atypical Learning
This represents a turning point for neurodivergent students or those with specialized educational needs. Visual or auditory challenges can be effectively addressed through ai, as programs can be coded to communicate through ai/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>sign language either ai-services/text-to-speech” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>translate written words into speech. ai setups can also provide students with audio, images, or project-based materials based on personalized feedback.
One of the software’s strengths is that it can be asked to explain the same concept in several different ways. This allows students the ability to work repetitively on difficult topics until they find an explanation of the material that resonates with them.
Additionally, researchers have found that some students with autism or ADHD, for example, respond more positively to lessons provided by robots than other approaches that have been used. One of the key findings is that mechanized robots do not show facial feedback that could be interpreted as unsupportive or critical. Wider research is currently underway that indicates this is an area of growth investment for our schools.
Teach students to share and sharpen their thoughts
Students should not use ai to write their roles, but it can help them start with the hardest part: organization. In my classrooms, I encourage some students to use ChatGPT to facilitate brainstorming about writing topics. This includes using ai to design outlines, learning about basic fundamental designs (for example, how to craft a thesis), or integrating appropriate stylized citations. In this way, it is the starting point of the investigation, and the heavy lifting comes from the other side of the information obtained from the software.
For example, since ai is very prone to internal factual flaws, students must fact-check and cross-reference each statement generated by the tool. Critical thinking comes into play when students must locate, read, and determine the legitimacy of each original source. The next step is to formulate and express your own ideas on the topic. In this way, we encourage a good dose of skepticism in our students, motivating them to take control of the content generated by technology instead of being passive consumers of it.
While the future of ai is unclear, I’m taking a Lean on get closer as we travel toward this border. As with all new inventions (from handwritten scrolls to talking robots), I’m learning to accept the setbacks that can come with such giant advances, in the hope that ai will give us innovative tools to help. each student reaches their full potential.
1 Plato (1952) (c. 360 BC). Phaedrus. Translated by Reginald Hackfort. p. 274c-275 b.
