In addition to all Business topics, an area of Generative AI that I am very passionate about is that linked to education.
Some time ago, I blogged about Khanmigo , the first bot dedicated to students and professors. But then I continued to delve deeper into the topic also thanks to the fact that I am holding some seminars in some high schools on this very topic.
And I found a lot of informations.
My main inspiration comes from Ethan Mollick, associate professor at Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studies and teaches innovation and entrepreneurship and also analyzes the effects of artificial intelligence on work and education. Ethan works closely with his wife, Lilach Mollick, director of education at Wharton Interactive.
With their countless reflections around this world, their experiments and constant brilliant ideas they have opened new horizons on how to relate to Generative AI and education.
These and many others are demonstrating how Chat GPT - taken as an example above all - is not only a method for cheating but also, and above all, a tool for improving one's learning.
Inspired therefore by them and by many other readings that I am doing, as well as by the feedback with many students, professors, principals that I am meeting in my workshops, I would like to provide you with some "fleeting glimpses" of the possibilities that are emerging precisely starting from this Paper published last July 2023.
A new tool
Don't worry: professors, teachers, educators will never cease to exist: their role is essential in creating a human relationship with their students. I very much agree with those who say that "We teach above all with the emotions that are transmitted during the lesson." And on this, for quite some time, no AI will be able to compete.
AI should be seen as an important new tool integrated into the educational path, to be added to pencils, pens, notebooks and books to learn better and more thoroughly.
What can it do?
Many things, many more than what I'm thinking about.
Feedback Generator
Students and Professors can submit their papers to the AI and obtain feedback on their work.
For example, a professor might ask:
Act like a 14 year old Italian student. Analyze the following explanation of Egyptian history and provide me with structured feedback on the work, let me understand what might be unclear and suggest ideas to make the presentation more compelling.
While a student:
Act like my English Literature Professor and analyze this paper of mine on Shakespeare. Let me understand what's missing, analyze typing errors, consistency of verb tenses, fluidity of the text. The instruction that the professor gave me is: [...] while this is the work that I did [...].
It is therefore simple to think of a world where AI can start to be a tutor, mentor and coach for student learning and to help teachers build better content.
Here are some examples from paper "Assigning AI: Seven Approaches for Students, with Prompts" with some personal considerations and ideas taken from other sources.
Personal Tutor
The lesson is given and perhaps extra material is provided, the students take notes, then they study, then their knowledge is tested. But in the meantime?
Students will discover that they have not understood something, they will forget some important steps, they will try to produce their papers but until the next test, which can take place weeks later, they will not have feedback on whether they are on the right track.
In addition to using Chat GPT (or Bard, or Claude etc...) as we have seen above, today they can refer to tutors based on Generative AI.
And this opens the way to a very important concept of ACCESSIBILITY: the affordable nature of these tutors provides students with 24/7 access to a learning solution that guides them towards answers without providing them, ultimately expanding their knowledge and exploring new possibilities.
A little experiment I did is Student Tutor.
Thanks to the possibilities offered by Chat GPT 4 I created a Bot that acts as a tutor to assist students in their daily activities. If you have access to Chat GPT4, you can try it here to get an idea of what it can do .
For my international readers: the Tutor is in Italian as a starting point but obviously offers answers in all languages and educational contexts.
The same thing goes for teachers.
They too can use a tutor to improve their lessons, as you can check in the other GPT that I developed, dedicated to them: Teacher Tutors.
Personal Coach
AI as a coach helps students reflect on how they think, a process called metacognition.
Imagine a virtual coach who makes you think about what happened at school today or how to tackle tomorrow's homework. This AI coach encourages students to learn from past lessons and better prepare for future challenges.
To learn well, students must want to do it and be able to control the way they study.
Reflecting on yourself is not easy. Sometimes, we tend to see things only from our own point of view without looking for new paths or solutions. That's why we need time to think about what happened and understand how to use it to improve.
This "coach" technology asks students to take a step back and see things from a different angle, helping them learn better and become more independent. But this requires effort and time, which is not always available in class. Teachers, therefore, must find creative ways to help students develop these independent and critical thinking skills.
Here is an example starting from the prompt suggested by Ethan in the paper I cited above.
Teammate
Imagine having a digital teammate during group projects. But unlike bored or uncooperative teammates, this one is able to provide outside-the-box ideas at any time.
When you study in a group, the magic happens if each of you brings your own special knowledge to the table, right? AI comes into play right here: it helps shuffle the cards and make the most of everyone's abilities, making 1+1 much more than 2.
But be careful not to fall into the trap of "everyone agrees" or "the less I try, the better". These are the classic group own goals. AI can help you avoid these pitfalls, encouraging you to do your best. It should be thought of as that silent genius in a corner of the classroom who, when he intervenes, really shifts the balance, leading the team towards innovative discoveries and real learning.
Is that all?
No, only by using them with lenses will you discover what they can do. Inside Ethan and Lilach Mollick's paper you will find many examples learn how to use it as a mentor, as an exercise simulator and much more.
Furthermore, if you are in the education sector, I invite you to watch and re-watch this playlist on YouTube made by our magical couple.
Be careful, there are rules!
One day, talking about these topics, a university student told me:
“Everything you say is beautiful. But if I'm in a hurry and don't want to learn something; with GPT I can speed up my time. If I learn little... too bad, the important thing is to pass the exam.
Given that the responsibility of those who use the tools lies with the user, it should be considered that the use of AI requires a conscious approach that respects some guidelines.
AI is therefore a tool, which must be known by both students and teachers. A tool that is still extremely young and fallacious, full of risks on which I will not dwell too much (Bias, Hallucinations , Privacy, Reduction of critical thinking), but which, precisely because it is already widely used by students, cannot be ignored by teachers.
For example, could it make sense to assign tasks to be done by AI?
You could say to the student:
Use it to do impossible things! Things you couldn't do before AI.
If it doesn't work with one AI, try another one (there are thousands of them here).
Every work done will then be analyzed in class. At the end of your work have her play four different roles to obtain different points of view.
Using this approach in homework and asking to have ten worst and best scenarios on the solutions brought is something that can be done in very little time. Discussing it in class can be decidedly exciting.
With AI the distance between "I have an idea" and "Let's see what happens", is so small that it allows you to experiment with things, starting from a few ideas, that are surprising.
The number one rule, however, starts from the assumption of responsibility: which always remains human (of the student in this case) who cannot afford to say "The AI said so".
And at this point…
You will soon get a Class that has become an AI-Class as our couple talks about in this other article published by Harvard in which it is clear that, if educators are able to establish a clear classroom policy on the use of AI, outlining rules and expectations, its main use will move from cheating to improving one's learning on all fronts, practically dedicating the same amount of time.
So what?
Generative AI is transforming education into a dynamic, engaging and personalized path. And we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg!
From a simple tool as it is it can now become a real ally both in studying and teaching, transforming itself if necessary into a personal tutor, coach, teammate, opening the doors to a world of interactive and personalized learning.
However, it is essential that students and teachers learn to use it with responsibility and awareness, knowing its pitfalls and making the most of its potential, seeing it as an extension of our thinking, not as a replacement!
And the only way to learn it, as with any new skill, is to start using it, together!
Are you ready?
As always, I invite you to reflect, comment and spread ideas by sharing this post with people you think might be interested.
To stay updated on my contents:
Read Glimpse, my novel about artificial intelligence. (Only in Italian)
Or contact me here.
See you next time!
Massimiliano Turazzini
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