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AI boosted homework scores, then exam scores dropped: study

economist.com

131–140 of 409 posts

Re: AI boosted homework scores, then exam scores dropped: study

#131
post #13

In my professional career, my employers give me a lot more assignments than exams.

Your employers want those assignments done. That’s why they pay you. School assignments belong in the trash can and you pay for someone to look at them before throwing them away.

Re: AI boosted homework scores, then exam scores dropped: study

#132
post #113

I think we need to accept that AI causes cognitive decline, like Alzheimer's. For an Adult this may be manageable, but in a young brain, this is detrimental.

I remember reading about people talking how writing and reading books leads to cognitive decline because people won't need to remember things anymore. Pretty sure the way social media is designed contributes more to short attention spans and atrophy of the cerebral cortex.

There was a decline in brain size that greatly predated widespread literacy:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20240517-the-human-brai...

Re: AI boosted homework scores, then exam scores dropped: study

#133

For some of the classes my kids were in, the lessons and homework time were reversed. Learning the material (using the text book and videos) was what they had to do at night and class time was spent working through problems or applying the material in some way.

This is typical at the college/university level - when I attended 20-25 years ago, we were expected to learn the material through readings outside of class, and then class time was spent on discussion, application, questions, and working through problems.

IMHO there's a lot to recommend this style. A lot of students learn better when they can wrestle with the material at their own pace, on their own time, in their own setting. It quells a lot of anxiety about "I'm not following what the teacher is saying, am I stuped, will I look bad in front of all my peers?" And then class time can be spent identifying holes in your knowledge and getting instant feedback from an expert, which is where they are most useful.

Re: AI boosted homework scores, then exam scores dropped: study

#135

The article does not relate AI usage for homework to exam score drops. It tries to link them together with no obvious cause and effect. The score could have dropped due to worse environment at schools or kids who were stuck at home studying online and now in physical locations could not adapt fast enough (meaning, possibly just temporary drops). We do not yet have enough metrics gathered yet. This type of article bas…

(This was originally posted in response to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49389565, which has a different article. We've since merged the threads.)

Re: AI boosted homework scores, then exam scores dropped: study

#136
post #7

The kids who used AI and studied for a similar amount of time as the non-AI high performers apparently had similar (slightly higher) performance. The kids who used AI and did poorly used the AI to do the homework for them (this is what the article says). I believe AI is basically an amplifier of bad and good. I’m cynical about the world and assume it will be used more for bad than good, but I don’t doubt some of the…

This is my thoughts as well! It makes smarter people smarter and dumb people dumber!

All at the cost of ... {List of negatives regarding the construction and powering of AI data centers }

Re: AI boosted homework scores, then exam scores dropped: study

#137
post #113

I think we need to accept that AI causes cognitive decline, like Alzheimer's. For an Adult this may be manageable, but in a young brain, this is detrimental.

I remember reading about people talking how writing and reading books leads to cognitive decline because people won't need to remember things anymore. Pretty sure the way social media is designed contributes more to short attention spans and atrophy of the cerebral cortex.

FYI: The rhetorical fallacy here is called a false syllogism.

Re: AI boosted homework scores, then exam scores dropped: study

#138

I think we need to accept that AI causes cognitive decline, like Alzheimer's. For an Adult this may be manageable, but in a young brain, this is detrimental.

Not doubting this one bit but is there actually any research linking AI use to Alzheimer's? I think that takes long-term studies.

Comparing it to Alzheimer's is an allegory. The cognitive loss is already well documented. I might also compare it to Chronic traumatic encephalopathy. But I think more people understand what Alzheimer's is.

Re: AI boosted homework scores, then exam scores dropped: study

#140
post #123

This feels like the calculator debate all over again. Yes, using a calculator leads to worse outcomes in your learning. But also, yes, everyone always carries a calculator on their person 24/7 these days and you'll never be as fast and as accurate as a calculator. I think it would have been kinda cool if you could have unlocked the privilege of using a calculator in school through good grades in math class. Prove you…

You do sometimes get to unlock it by being allowed to use calculators in more advanced classes
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