The Rise of the Machine Learning

In recent weeks we have seen the advancement in the field of artificial intelligence, in the form of an open AI model called ChatGPT which interacts with the user in a conversational way. As with all developing technology it's natural to speculate about the potential consequences of creating intelligent machines. While some people imagine a utopian future in which AI helps us solve some of the world's most pressing problems, others fear a dystopian future in which AI turns against us and seeks to destroy us.

One of the most well-known dystopian depictions of AI comes from the Terminator franchise. In the movies, machines known as Terminators are sent back in time to kill the human resistance leaders before they can rise to power and challenge the machines. The machines are cold, ruthless, and completely devoid of compassion, making them a formidable enemy for the humans.

Of course, the reality of AI is likely to be somewhere in between these two extremes. The outcome of AI depends on how it is implemented and controlled.

This is the same when AI is applied to education. There are both potential benefits and challenges. Some of the potential benefits of AI include personalized learning, improved efficiency and accuracy of administrative tasks, and the ability to provide high-quality instruction to students virtually.

However, there are also challenges and ethical considerations to be considered. One potential challenge is the potential for AI to perpetuate existing biases and inequalities. For example, if AI algorithms are trained on data that is biased in some way, they may make decisions that are discriminatory. These concerns have been recently raised against the latest AI app Lensa.ai which creates digital avatars based on your profile picture. Additionally, there is the potential for AI to replace human teachers.

So just how good is the present AI? Well, I set the ChatGPT the task of passing Level 3 Mechanics. So, let's see how it went.

Well, it did not have the equation for the time period of an oscillating spring system to begin with, though it did allude to it, needed to show the rearrangement, so not quite. Let's increase the complexity of the question, shall we?

Quite a wordy response - sometimes a sign a student does not quite understand. Not quite the case with our AI. Great that it mentioned force acts in the opposite direction of displacement - that gets the merit point! Though might have expected a discussion on the acceleration, still he is improving.

ok, let's see how it handles a harder equation, which takes some multiple steps.

Started well with finding the displacement, so got an achievement point there, but got confused with finding the acceleration by using 0.44 m as the displacement so nothing there.

So, for the last question, let's test the AI's understanding of resonance, shall we?

So multiple calculations proved too much for the AI. It did not realize to combine masses until right at the end, Resonance was not very well described at all in terms of the conditions required, with no discussion of the oscillations being the same as the natural oscillations of the system. So overall, merit for that question.

The AI struggled with multiple steps in equations and did not fully access the information needed to answer the questions. One reason may be the AI does not fully grasp the context of the question due to the specialist language being used, so humans will not be replaced yet.

Another growing concern is the potential for students to use AI to cheat on essays. With the advancements in AI technology, it is becoming easier for students to access tools that can generate essays based on a given prompt. While these tools can be useful, they can also be misused to generate essays that do not reflect what the student understands about the topic.

The use of AI for cheating on essays poses a significant threat to the integrity of the education system. It undermines the hard work of students who put effort into their assignments, and it can give an unfair advantage to those who use AI to cheat. Furthermore, it can be difficult for teachers to detect whether an essay has been produced using AI, making it even more challenging to identify and punish students who engage in academic dishonesty.

However, there are several ways to reduce the problem of students using AI to generate essays:

1. Educate students about the consequences of academic dishonesty: Students should be made aware of the consequences of using AI to cheat on essays, including the potential for failing the assignment, being expelled from school, and damaging their future academic and professional prospects.

2. Use AI to detect plagiarism: Teachers can use AI tools to detect plagiarism in student essays, helping to identify instances of academic dishonesty. This is more of a challenge with AI generated documents as they create novel text.

3. Provide personalized feedback and goals throughout the writing process: Regularly providing students with personalized feedback on their writing with associated learning milestones helps them to improve their writing and research skills and leads to the production of original work.

4. Encourage critical thinking: By teaching students to think critically and to develop their own ideas, educators can help students to avoid the temptation to use AI tools for generating essays.

5. Use a combination of detection methods: In addition to using AI tools to detect plagiarism, teachers can also use other methods, such as comparing the writing style and content of different essays, to identify instances of academic dishonesty.

Overall, it is important for educators to be aware of the potential for students to use AI to generate essays and to take steps to prevent and address this problem. By educating students, using effective feedback, and encouraging critical thinking, we can help to promote academic honesty and focus on the learning. The essay is the product of the learning, we need to focus on the process.

Overall, there needs to be careful consideration and oversight in the use of AI in education to ensure that it is not harmful to students and does not exacerbate existing inequalities in the education system.