Daily Herald opinion: Artificial intelligence is here to stay; let's be sensible in how we use it in schools
This editorial is a consensus opinion of the Daily Herald Editorial Board.
Your reaction to the recent explosion of artificial intelligence might be guided by whether you watched the "Terminator" movies, which tell the apocalyptic tale of a network of computers becoming self-aware and deciding it doesn't need us anymore.
That film was made 40 years ago. And to the pessimists, the emergence of OpenAI's ChatGPI platform and Google's BARD is the beginning of the end of the human race.
There is no need to send anyone back in time to halt the birth of Google or OpenAI, but we should proceed in this new world with caution.
AI can do many wonderful things that would take humans hours or years to come up with: solving complex problems; translating text and being a good study partner to name a few,
But as with any powerful tool, it could be used for ill as well.
One of the more concerning applications of a simple human-AI interface that are getting better every day is that students - especially those for whom class is more a chore to be endured than an awakening - is the allure of cheating. Especially with written assignments.
Our Alicia Fabbre asked suburban educators for their thoughts on whether AI should be used in the classroom, whether they are concerned about rampant cheating and more.
Enter a question or a command, being as specific as you like, and the chatbot will return something that is increasingly more humanlike and natural sounding.
For those willing to cut corners, you can get a bespoke term paper based on your parameters and focus in a matter of seconds. Is that plagiarism? Does the student learn anything by doing this? Becoming more effective at cutting corners and directing an AI, we suppose.
"What we're facing now is a more complex problem than we previously had with plagiarism," Laura Lohman, assistant provost for faculty development and innovation at North Central College in Naperville, told Fabbre.
New York City schools have banned students and teachers from using ChatGPT on district-issued devices. Other districts across the country followed suit.
There are wonderful opportunities for students and teachers. AI could be used for tutoring students, especially those who are taking more advanced classes than Mom or Dad ever did. And teachers could get help from AI in getting organized and building lesson plans.
Personal computers, the internet and social media were game changers for most of us. They have become a big part of most of our lives. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not.
Tim McIlvain, director of the Learning Technology Center of Illinois, said it's better to harness what AI can do than ignore or outlaw it. The applications of AI on everyday life is only beginning to emerge.
"Teaching (students) how to do that in a responsible way is the role of teachers and schools," he told Fabbre.
It's clearly here to stay. Let's exercise some caution in how we use it.