Lynne Stevens
Do you remember when you were in school and did your math homework? Teachers would harp on you to show all your work when you turned it in.
In the classroom, we were taught how to tackle math problems – and then given homework to practice and get familiar with all the steps involved.
In my case, that was easier said than done! I had to show every mystifying step with my mother hovering above me. When kids are in the classroom and supervised, teachers can make sure every step is shown – but not so with homework.
Just for fun, I used an old Algebra text book and let A.I. do problems with all steps shown. All I had to do was copy it – yet had little understanding of the how the answer was obtained.
Writing an essay with the help of A.I. is getting difficult to recognize. A community group in Kentucky gives out scholarships to deserving kids every year. A big part of the criteria is a written essay. It was very obvious who had used AI and it was used by a large number of applicants.
This year, the group found it more difficult to determine the extent of A.I. usage – as the proficiency of A.I. is advancing. It was determined that the only other way to address the problem was to use the school, and have the kids sit and write the essay under supervision. The group conceded that the intended process was going to be compromised. Without in-person testing, it would be difficult to maintain integrity of the scholarship program and ensure the most worthy kids were rewarded.
Well, here we are. We let politicians think for us without question and now we let machines think for us without question. What child needs to critically think about the topic at hand, when all-knowing A.I. can rationalize for them? When multiple sides of arguments are presented, will kids have developed cognitive skills needed to reach thoughtful conclusions?
Now, the experimentation begins. What is gained and what is lost, with ubiquitous use of A.I.?
The answers are starting to trickle in.
MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) students used electroencephalogram brain readings to monitor students who wrote an essay without A.I. and students who were free to use A.I. The non-A.I. group had significantly-higher brain activity than the A.I. users.
These MIT students were asked afterward if they could recall what they wrote. The A.I. group could hardly remember a quote from their work.
Nataliya Kosmyrna of MIT stated life skills to write an essay require analyzing competing positions and rational arguments. Our brains need to be challenged or real learning is difficult to attain. Scrolling on a phone is not a challenge and we risk becoming cognitively less skilled as we age (The Week).
Oxford University’s word of the year was ”brain rot,” depicting feelings of the mindless emptiness of content AI perfectly serves up.
To inform or manipulate: that is the question, my citizens.
Lynne Stevens writes a bi-weekly column for The Graham Star. She can be reached via email, geminga@mailfence.com.