tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post7036799614465021435..comments2024-03-28T11:57:21.902-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: Artificial StupidityPeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-48713853548562365152017-09-01T00:57:08.504-04:002017-09-01T00:57:08.504-04:00PhD, Art as ‘Artificial Stupidity’: http://sro.sus...PhD, Art as ‘Artificial Stupidity’: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/67604Mocksimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07250231666659068821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-49486719192667662452017-05-15T13:06:21.715-04:002017-05-15T13:06:21.715-04:00Truly incompetent, "harmful" teachers ar...Truly incompetent, "harmful" teachers are few and far between. A good building principal does not allow them to continue in the classroom. The existence of such teachers is a sign of inexcusably poor management. Just don't blame the teacher. <br /><br />AI, like virtually every reform initiative is doomed to eventual failure. Ignorance of classroom dynamics is always their downfall.NY Teacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08292448959963091160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-4709315149238039342017-05-14T22:05:04.752-04:002017-05-14T22:05:04.752-04:00I think everyone should follow the "First, do...I think everyone should follow the "First, do no harm" axiom. But of all the teachers I and all my kids had, only one was emotionally abusive with students, and as soon as the administration realized it, they got rid of him. It wasn't even willful on his part, he just had no people skills whatsoever and thought he was being funny. No one, including Peter, argues that computers and software don't have their uses in the classroom, but computers aren't capable of building any kind of "relationship" with students.Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-67116197849009710392017-05-14T15:24:04.810-04:002017-05-14T15:24:04.810-04:00Sure, but for some of us who have spent a lot of t...Sure, but for some of us who have spent a lot of time with meat-based teachers, there are a lot of those I'm not sure that AI would be worse than. At least AI doesn't generally willfully emotionally abuse kids. And if I found a program that appeared to be operating with unreasonable biases, I could expect a reasonable possibility of getting the program fixed before the heat death of the universe occurs. Try that with some entrenched teachers (I do, on a frequent basis, but far less success than I'd like). <br /><br />Luckily, there ARE options that include human-based reasoning that isn't hopelessly either/or, where we might use computer-based teaching/learning for its strengths and meat-based teaching for its strengths. Keeping an open mind on such matters requires stepping outside the GERM/Ed Deform paradigm, watching out for where advocacy is more sales pitch than sense, but also being honest about teachers who are actually less able to build relationships with children than "dumb" computers.<br /><br />There's no official "Hippocratic Oath" that starts with, "First, do no harm" that teachers must take, but there sure as hell should be. Programmers, too, but then they mostly build what they're asked to build by people who may not be altruists or humanists or very decent, ethical people. This is also true, oddly enough, of teacher educators, state DOEs, etc.Michael Paul Goldenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04939966966192318775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-51347876944882978562017-05-14T11:34:54.349-04:002017-05-14T11:34:54.349-04:00Recommended read. What if he AI is wrong? I get th...Recommended read. What if he AI is wrong? I get that. The potential problem I see with it is it's bound to narrow perception. Or maybe not. Who knows? MThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16808508431759471652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-87020919253300629262017-05-14T11:15:39.185-04:002017-05-14T11:15:39.185-04:00I am a teacher. I am NOT, nor will I EVER be, a &...I am a teacher. I am NOT, nor will I EVER be, a "data scientist." Jennifer Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11035275432608580082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-4765890171443934902017-05-14T11:11:17.221-04:002017-05-14T11:11:17.221-04:00I hate any kind of auto-correct because I know wha...I hate any kind of auto-correct because I know what I want to say and my spelling is good. My son's isn't, but the computer program can't tell if he writes "expect" when he means "except". <br /><br />My son's Spanish course in college used an online "workbook" that was horrible. It would mark it wrong if you didn't put the answer in the exact format it wanted, and some of their answers were wrong anyway. The teacher hated it too because it didn't save her any time because she had to go over everything anyway. And we all know that computer programs to grade compositions don't care if it's gobbledeegook if it follows the right formula. And computer translators from one language to another aren't very good because they don't understand semantics or context.<br /><br />My new computer changes the wallpaper every so often and asks me if I like it, but it's been months and the algorithms are just beginning to get a little better at predicting what I like. The AI people just want CBE to use students as guinea pigs to try to perfect their software. <br /><br />The other thing is that there's a lot of evidence that the teach-to-the-test mentality is creating people who can't think for themselves and if something happens that they have no exact rules to follow to resolve it, they just shut down. We're going to dumb down people until they're all as stupid as computers!<br /><br />If I need to break material down into simpler skill chunks, I'm perfectly able to do it, but I know when it's necessary and when it isn't. The only kind of software I wish they'd work on for teachers is a kind where it's a tool to make it easier for me to make my own material.Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.com