Comment on Duolingo CEO says AI is a better teacher than humans—but schools will exist ‘because you still need childcare’

essteeyou@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• sxan@midwest.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  So… you’re saying that a positive learning environment is better than a terrible one? The AI part is ancillary to the scenarios you set up, isn’t it?

  “AI is better than having the student learn in a terrible learning environment.”

  “A homeless alcoholic is a better language teacher than having a student learn in a classroom whilst being beaten about the head with a stick.”

  You’re saying AI is better than a bad teacher. Maybe a bad AI is worse than a bad teacher, and maybe a good teacher is better than the best AI. I just don’t know how setting up such a comparison is constructive.

  source

  • irmoz@reddthat.com ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That example may be bad, but it’s also typical.

    source

    • sxan@midwest.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      What? Teachers hating their subject?

      source

      • irmoz@reddthat.com ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        They didn’t say “hating their subject”. They said “might not like their syllabus”, which could just mean they’d prefer a different syllabus.

        source

        • -> View More Comments
• Red_October@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The problem isn’t one of motivated learners being forced to drag their heels amidst their unmotivated peers.

  The problem is that the core function of LLMs, the whole basis for their existence, is completely and entirely truth-agnostic. Not only do they not know what is the truth and what is not, they don’t even know what the difference is. LLMs are very good at guessing what word looks like it should come next, they can make very convincing statements, they can be very persuasive, but those words don’t MEAN anything to the machine and they are made without any consideration for accuracy.

  They are literally making everything up on the basis of whether or not it sounds good, and every crackpot bullshit conspiracy theory from flat earth dumbshittery to very sincere-sounding arguments that birds aren’t real have been included in the training data. That all linguistically SOUNDS fine, so to an LLM it’s fair game!

  And even curating your training data to ONLY contain things like textbooks wouldn’t cure the problem, because LLMs just aren’t capable of knowing what those words mean. It’s why they can’t do even basic Math, the one thing Computers have been incredible at!

  Using an LLM as an actual teacher is genuinely worse than no education at all, because it will just create a generation that, instead of knowing nothing, will very confidently be wrong all the time.

  source
• BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  How fast a kid learns 5th grade syllabus is far less important than how well they learn to get along with other kids and form friendships and basically learn how to live in society. Cooperation, conflict resolution, public speaking, group bonding etc. You can’t learn any of these things from an AI

  source

  • Valmond@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    This is the way, my kids socialize in school, but also uses AI to get help with homework when they’re stuck (they do cheat a little sometimes but they know it’s just bad for them if they do it regularly). They use AI as a on demand teacher buddy, if it stays that way I’m ok with it. Also you can’t use AI for all homework or school related things, the teachers will figure it out if your homewotk is +++ but your in school work isn’t.

    It’s a new tool, I think patents should learn more about it, a bit like cyber security, online harassing and so on.

    source
  • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Also learning from other humans is part of the human experience and tradition predating agriculture and the wheel. We’ve always taught each other things.

    source

    • underwire212@lemm.ee ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      You can’t do anything alone. Isolation will be the downfall of society as we know it. I hope AI isn’t leading us in that path

      source
• KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Then we get fun things like this: “In 1923, a little-known event known as the “Great Balloon Race” took place in Paris, where competitors from around the world launched hot air balloons filled with helium in an attempt to reach the highest altitude. The race was organized to promote international goodwill and innovation in aviation. Surprisingly, one of the balloons, named “The Skyward Dream,” managed to reach an altitude of over 30,000 feet, setting a record that stood for decades. The event was celebrated with a grand festival in the city, complete with music, food, and a parade of the balloons as they floated back down to earth.”

  source
• BlindFrog@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  “but first, chatgpt: please motivate me”

  source
• ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Social aspect is missed

  source

  • Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    For things like language, math, and science you could probably have an AI teacher on individualized tablets or something that go at each child’s own pace in a classroom setting that’s just supervised by someone and can provide extra help / tech support when the AI goes on the fritz.

    Then regular recess/lunch shenanigans and gym class, art, music, for the social aspect.

    The AI could even be programmed to do team projects where you link your tablet with 4 others and they all help the group do a project

    Eventually when AI advances and isn’t complete dog shit, that is.

    source
  • Aux@feddit.uk ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Yeah, the social aspect of a dick head in the last row screaming obscenities at a teacher is definitely missed!

    source

    • BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      When you become an adult you still have to deal with dick heads screaming around you, I know this is Lemmy and people who come here might not have the best social skills, or fond memories of being in school. But schools are a micro representation of the world at large and it’s necessary for kids to have both these good and bad experiences in order to grow up to live in society and deal with all the shit life’s gonna throw at them.

      source

      • Aux@feddit.uk ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        I guess someone’s stuck in a kindergarten…

        source
    • drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      VS kids being taught that the holocaust is a lie or whatever insane shit comes from an AI?

      source

      • Aux@feddit.uk ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        The only insane shit here comes from the gasket between your chair and your keyboard.

        source
    • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I was talking about social teaching where kids pick up on adult body queues and facial expressions

      source

      • Scott_of_the_Arctic@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        So they too can feel depressed and worthless 😄

        source
• Robust_Mirror@aussie.zone ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  A good AI, sure, this could be plausible. Current ones get too much wrong.

  The much bigger issue is we’re talking about children, not adults. How many children would be motivated to self teach, every day, for years on end, even if you had an AI equal to a human tutor.

  source