During the recent holiday season, I was having a discussion regarding AI, and the conversation eventually found its way to the pros and cons of this relatively new technology. As with all new tech that is not very well understood, I find that people are either completely for it or totally against it, with very few sitting on the fence. In this case the person I was having the discussion with was vehemently opposed to the technology and even stated that they would never use it. I then asked whether they ever went onto Google to search for something, and the answer was a resounding “of course I do!”.
I changed the subject then and there, remembering the old adage, “Never argue with a fool, because people tend to forget who’s who in the conversation”.
AI has already filtered into everyday life for most people. Every time you open a web browser on your computer and type something into the Google or Microsoft (Bing) search engines, an AI is being accessed to provide results that are mostly accurate and relevant to the search query. These results would not be possible without the aid of a machine learning algorithm continuously running through the enormous amount of data contained on the world wide web. In 2022, the total amount of information contained on the internet was estimated to be around 94 zettabytes (ZB) with it predicted to rise to approximately 180 ZB by 2025 because of the influx of IoT devices. (Note: 1 ZB is equal to 1 billion terabytes!)
Microsoft has also recently announced that the much talked about ChatGPT platform has been merged into the new Bing.com search application. This is a game-changer for online searches, one that I believe will be even more influential than when Google search first appeared.
ChatGPT is a conversational AI based on a Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) model. This neural network machine learning model is trained to use internet data to generate text-based answers. The model has an impressive language IQ score of 147, which basically means that its conversational and comprehension skills are top-notch. (Don’t expect much on the EQ front though. It is an AI, after all.)
Although this is not the first AI to be available for use on the internet, the reason it has become a sensation in some circles, and simultaneously ruffled many feathers, is that it is so easy to use to produce seemingly non-plagiarised work. The article (http://www.dataweek.co.za/18644r) bears this out.
ChatGPT is currently the buzzword in most conversations on education. Having a vested interest in STEM education at both high school and tertiary institutions, particularly engineering and technology, I can state with 100% certainty that many teachers are worried that scholars will be using this platform to produce work. Furthermore, work generated by the AI does not provide any learning on the topic that is being written about. Of course, work produced can be put through another online check to determine the likelihood of it being written by an AI but this is another step and remains to be seen whether it will be done.
AI is here and, like other technology sectors, is set to transform the educational sector. What we need to learn is how to use it, not to produce work, but rather to aid us in producing work. Using it for fact checking, to improve writing skills, to summarise work to aid learning – those are AI abilities that our students need to embrace. Preventing the use of AI in education is a pointless exercise. Rather it needs to be embraced and the system needs to be updated to use AI. After all, it is these same students who one day will be co-existing and working together with artificial intelligences.
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