Live data from Hacker News

What ChatGPT reveals about the collapse of support for higher education

crookedtimber.org

1–10 of 92 posts

Re: What ChatGPT reveals about the collapse of support for higher education

#2
This could be great for university.

Suddenly thousands of mediocre low effort papers are no longer sufficient to get a degree.

Many students will have to put in real work. Others won't graduate and have to look at trade school or alternatives.

College degrees will go back to meaning the holder has an advanced, specialized education and no longer be required for low end jobs as a bad filter.

Re: What ChatGPT reveals about the collapse of support for higher education

#3
> when I asked it who was “President in 2022,” it responded (inter alia) with “My training data only goes up until 2021, so I am not able to provide information about events that have not yet occurred.”

> Notice that it goes off the rails in its answer because it wrote me that in 2023!

This is not a mistake. If the bot is trained with data only up to 2021, then for the bot 2022 is in the future, no matter when you ask, in 2022, 2023 or in 2030.

Re: What ChatGPT reveals about the collapse of support for higher education

#4

This could be great for university. Suddenly thousands of mediocre low effort papers are no longer sufficient to get a degree. Many students will have to put in real work. Others won't graduate and have to look at trade school or alternatives. College degrees will go back to meaning the holder has an advanced, specialized education and no longer be required for low end jobs as a bad filter.

As long as government money is doled out to barely adult humans in large quantities to obtain a degree there will be an industry to service providing these degrees.

Re: What ChatGPT reveals about the collapse of support for higher education

#5
post #3

> when I asked it who was “President in 2022,” it responded (inter alia) with “My training data only goes up until 2021, so I am not able to provide information about events that have not yet occurred.” > Notice that it goes off the rails in its answer because it wrote me that in 2023! This is not a mistake. If the bot is trained with data only up to 2021, then for the bot 2022 is in the future, no matter when you as…

We’ll probably see some real skill when Bing gets ChatGPT integration, but I fear even “ChatGPT Premium” won’t support browsing the web.

Re: What ChatGPT reveals about the collapse of support for higher education

#6
post #3

> when I asked it who was “President in 2022,” it responded (inter alia) with “My training data only goes up until 2021, so I am not able to provide information about events that have not yet occurred.” > Notice that it goes off the rails in its answer because it wrote me that in 2023! This is not a mistake. If the bot is trained with data only up to 2021, then for the bot 2022 is in the future, no matter when you as…

In fact the probability that Biden was dead or incapacited by now wasn't nil. So wouldn't even be right to extrapolate based on mandate terms.

Re: What ChatGPT reveals about the collapse of support for higher education

#7

This could be great for university. Suddenly thousands of mediocre low effort papers are no longer sufficient to get a degree. Many students will have to put in real work. Others won't graduate and have to look at trade school or alternatives. College degrees will go back to meaning the holder has an advanced, specialized education and no longer be required for low end jobs as a bad filter.

As long as government money is doled out to barely adult humans in large quantities to obtain a degree there will be an industry to service providing these degrees.

[deleted]

Re: What ChatGPT reveals about the collapse of support for higher education

#8

This could be great for university. Suddenly thousands of mediocre low effort papers are no longer sufficient to get a degree. Many students will have to put in real work. Others won't graduate and have to look at trade school or alternatives. College degrees will go back to meaning the holder has an advanced, specialized education and no longer be required for low end jobs as a bad filter.

in the academy today original thought that strays too far is actively discouraged. Undergrad is pretty much all analysis and derivation.

But then college was never meant to create creative geniuses. Only efficient worker bees.

Re: What ChatGPT reveals about the collapse of support for higher education

#10

This could be great for university. Suddenly thousands of mediocre low effort papers are no longer sufficient to get a degree. Many students will have to put in real work. Others won't graduate and have to look at trade school or alternatives. College degrees will go back to meaning the holder has an advanced, specialized education and no longer be required for low end jobs as a bad filter.

I think you mean "This could be great for university. Suddenly thousands of mediocre low effort papers are now good enough to pass them and keep getting money from the government instead of having to fail them". Big universities are businesses first, research institutes second, and educations maybe fifth or even lower.

Rare and blessed be the university that isn't a business in the modern age. But show me one, and I will show you a university that isn't on the international rankings.

Post reply on HN