Eight Key Questions Educators Should Ask About AI (short summary)
Short summary of keynote address to LoopEd Teacher Professional Development Conference Wellington 31 May 2024
[Update: I have now put the whole presentation up on my podcast so you can go and listen to it there].
This is an overview of my keynote address to the LoopEd Teacher Professional Development Conference in Wellington on 31 May 2024. I will be doing a substack on the whole presentation. If you have any questions related to this presentation, please post them here.
Is AI as big a deal as they say it is? Yes.
Are we currently talking about AI in the right way; what’s the best way of thinking about how it is developing? No, we need new language and to think in terms of it ‘upskilling’.
Is AI ‘intelligent’ or ‘sentient’, will it take over? We should be looking at what AI can do, not whether it is the same as us.
Why are educators central to any discussion of AI? Because AI radically disrupts knowledge development, transmission and assessment—all key elements of education.
How can you educate for the future when no one knows what it will look like? Not easy, but we should think in terms of AI ‘What Ifs’.
Will AI make going to school pointless, and what will its impact be on teaching? There is likely to still be a key roles for teachers.
What will be AI's impact on inequality? If implemented correctly, AI could assist with reducing at least some aspects of educational inequality.
How can I personally cope with AI? Use the CHILL tool.
I just put up a podcast of the full presentation. Feel free to pass it onto any teachers who might be interested.https://drpaulnewideas.substack.com/p/podcast-eight-key-questions-educators?r=2ixuev
You said that we shouldn't consider AI to be just producing rote responses. I wonder, in the example video you gave about AI taking over to ensure human survival, does the answer that the AI gave indicate a potential genuine intention to act, or is it just a predicted text answer? Is this a meaningful distinction?