From NPR’s Consider This: “To AI or not to AI? Do college students appreciate the question?” I like this, from Will Teague, a professor of history at Angelo State University interviewed for this story:
“What I told one student was that just because I hand you a hammer doesn’t mean you know how to build a house. You have to learn how to do the thing first before you use tools to make the thing easier.”See also Ted Chiang’s observation:
Using ChatGPT to complete assignments is like bringing a forklift into the weight room; you will never improve your cognitive fitness that way.
I understand what professor Teague is getting at, but maybe to extend the analogy a bit to something I think is also important. I learned to use a hammer from my father. I was taught there are different types for different tasks, how to hold them, how to use them, and that there are different nails for different jobs. I guess it was one-on-one mentoring in the fundamentals, although I didn’t see it that way at the time. Today it seems we’re giving students - well, anybody really - a nail gun, a pat on the back, and saying have at it. No mentoring, no teaching, no basics, no nothing.
ReplyDeleteI still remember the incredible naiveté with which students would consider online sources. And it's worse when those who should know better (as on a recent Chronicle of Higher Ed podcast) speak of AI as having "the answer" to a question.
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