A breakfast, school, and ChatGPT
Picture generated with Midjourney / Discord - a fool with a tool?
A breakfast, school, and ChatGPT
About a week ago, as we had our breakfast, we listened to the news of the day on the radio. And not surprisingly, ChatGPT came up. Universities and high schools seem panicked; students are using ChatGPT to write essays and find answers to their homework.
To chat or not to chat?
My point is clear. ChatGPT and others are here to stay. So the question is not if but how. That's the reality. And banning it in can only be counterproductive. Our educational systems and policies are not aligned with our time (and they are not the only ones). And so, as often, the simple go-to reaction is a fear-based one: control and ban.
Skills of the Future are needed now.
We keep reading about being Fit for the Future and the skills needed for tomorrow. Put simply, the skills for the future are required now, not tomorrow. And if we don't allow our kids now to develop them, we are making a mistake.
We keep hearing and reading about the need to complement each other, to use AI smartly as an add-on, bringing the best of two worlds together. Yet, I don't see much of that for our kids. I still notice more of an «either-or» rather than a « and » mindset.
I will not wait for others and have decided to take the matter into my own hands. And by engaging my kids on it, it will not only benefit them, but also myself through our conversations.
ChatGPT as a skill accelerator for our kids (and adults)
Here are five ways ChatGPT can help develop our kids' mindset and skills for tomorrow (and today).
Improve the understanding of how AI works: it seems logical but understanding the fundamentals of AI is critical. Vaclav Smil, in his book « How the World Really Works» claims that we see the input and the output, but most of us lose the ability to understand the black box. It's important because, as for any tool, there are strengths and limitations. And knowing those will improve our overall ability to use them effectively.
Learn to ask better questions: asking good questions is an art form. So the quality of the question will define the quality of the output. In essence, garbage in, garbage out. The skill to write a good prompt is vital. They can learn through that process to be more precise and to ask better questions. That alone is interesting.
Think critically: the output generated by Chatgpt isn't perfect by far. And rather than taking it for granted, it's essential to think critically about the quality of the output. How do I know it's true? What's the source? If I re-prompt and get a different answer, which one is better? But the critical thinking also applies to the input? The questions I ask are also framed. What biases are at play? When asking a question, why this one and not another one?
Space for creativity: ChatGPT can be a good companion for creative processes. It might give a couple of ideas to start from. Or it could take away burdensome work, thus allowing people to allocate more time to adding-value activities.
Ethics: probably the most important one. What does a good usage of ChatGPT look like? How does it help our kids to become better citizens? What is acceptable and what isn't? It's the opportunity to link ethics to something real and practical. Fundamentally the problem of universities and students is as much about ethics as it is about technology. If you ask Chatgpt to produce an essay, how could you claim it's yours?
A fool with a tool is still a fool*
ChatGPT (and technology in general) is just one way to develop our conscience and become better citizens.
Better citizens, who are able to use technology as an amplifier of their qualities, committed to the common good, freedom and who can think critically.
But how can our kids become better citizens if we don't allow our kids (and ourselves) to use technology effectively and ethically?
So let's not be fools with tools.