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1 in 4 U.S. Teachers Say AI Tools Do More Harm Than Good in K-12 Education

pewresearch.org

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Re: 1 in 4 U.S. Teachers Say AI Tools Do More Harm Than Good in K-12 Education

#21

Post by resource_waste »

Teachers are pretty low on the people I trust.

As an adult, I saw who became a teacher. It was not our best and brightest.

As an adult, I heard about the stereotype grading done by lazy teachers. "Oh that student is good, I'll give them an A and skim their paper... That student is a goof, they probably got a C since last time they got a C..."

As an adult, I see how terrible academic skills are, and how quickly a 12 year old could be a high school grad. College really should replace high school.

I don't trust their judgement here. I think its most likely laziness under the guise of concern.

Re: 1 in 4 U.S. Teachers Say AI Tools Do More Harm Than Good in K-12 Education

#22

Post by KittenInABox »

philip1209 wrote: post #16
greenthrow wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get you're going for the "AI is a tool" thing, but the problem with your analogy is that LLMs hallucinate and many students use them in lieu of doing reading and reasoning about the content. LLMs are to english class as a car would be to running class. Yes, the tool exists and is useful but it prevents you from getting the intended benefit.

Seems like educators should be adding AI to their curriculum.

How do you teach students how to reason around AI before you teach them how to reason, period? I think the problem is trying to teach the basic logic and philosophy of the fundamentals of subjects. I'm talking how to think mathematically. How to analyze critically. How to argue coherently. AI can be a boon to people who already have the capacity to reason around it, but first we have to reach un-developed brains how to reason.

Re: 1 in 4 U.S. Teachers Say AI Tools Do More Harm Than Good in K-12 Education

#24

Post by greenthrow »

philip1209 wrote: post #16
greenthrow wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get you're going for the "AI is a tool" thing, but the problem with your analogy is that LLMs hallucinate and many students use them in lieu of doing reading and reasoning about the content. LLMs are to english class as a car would be to running class. Yes, the tool exists and is useful but it prevents you from getting the intended benefit.

Seems like educators should be adding AI to their curriculum.

Depends on the class.

Re: 1 in 4 U.S. Teachers Say AI Tools Do More Harm Than Good in K-12 Education

#25

Post by zero-sharp »

philip1209 wrote: post #8

The only thing this shows is that the education system actively resists preparing students to succeed in a modern economy. This is the modern equivalent of saying "keyboards hurt penmanship education."

I don't think our existence should be dictated by economics. There are certain skills, creative and analytical, that should be practiced even when there is no economic incentive to do so. I actually think the idea of a chatbot solving your math homework or shitting out an essay is seriously regressive. Like, sure, if you instead train students to coax AI into producing "an answer", they might be able to find work. But they also missed the opportunity to practice certain cognitive skills that would enable them to develop their own ideas. Not everyone can be a specialist (or needs to be). But at the same time, they should not be handed a crutch from the get-to which discourages independence and practice.

That's not to say that there aren't certain repetitive tasks that can benefit from technology. But have you ever had a numerical problem on a calculator? Do you realize how often technology can lead to bad math? It happens a lot. If you blindly follow wolframalpha, you'll get things wrong. And you'll have absolutely no idea why.

Re: 1 in 4 U.S. Teachers Say AI Tools Do More Harm Than Good in K-12 Education

#26

Post by tithe »

dr_dshiv wrote: post #20
analog31 wrote: post #11

Educational software has always been an abyss. While in college, my summer internships (early 1980s) were at an educational computer facility. They had a "lab" with a variety of available computers and software for teachers to try out. Virtually all of it was abysmal -- glorified flash cards. It wasn't much different when my kids were in high school.

Number munchers, Oregon trail, Odell Lake, Rocky’s Boots, LOGO, Carmen San Diego… My 1980s education technology was kick ass

Super Munchers, Outnumbered, Operation Neptune, Wild Science Arcade, and Mario Teaches Typing

blowmp blowmp Da-da-daah! POW! :)

Re: 1 in 4 U.S. Teachers Say AI Tools Do More Harm Than Good in K-12 Education

#27

Post by EGreg »

dr_dshiv wrote: post #18

AI is unbelievably awesome for education. We just need to raise the bar. If you only use it to do the normal work (essays), it’s a waste and maybe bad. Now, it is so much easier to teach programming… data analysis… design… all things that k12 is normally terrible at teaching.

I love how HN is just a cheerleader for AI btw. Like the vast majority of posts are all the same. “AI is unbelievably awesome”. “All dangers are overblown and silly.” “We’ve always had X downside, it’s nothing new” “but Web3 sucks in every possible way.”

Re: 1 in 4 U.S. Teachers Say AI Tools Do More Harm Than Good in K-12 Education

#28

Post by EGreg »

forgot-im-old wrote: post #10

Unfortunately the Pandora's box has already been opened.., we are going to have to get better at thinking critically and judging evidence if we are to survive into in the sea of LLM generated content.

Won’t help.

Superhuman means all your efforts to think critically will be overwhelmed. How exactly do most people fact check today? Take the Donald Trump guilty verdict today. Even without AI, who is thinking more critically, the Republicans who distrust the process or Democrats who welcome it?

And your friends will be turned against you by AI influencers if you dare to disagree.

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