In The Differentiated Classroom, there is a long list of what a student can do when they “understand” something (pg 75). Some of the examples are obvious like “use it” and “compare and contrast it with other concepts.” Others are more creative. However, one thing all these skills have in common is that I was able to do them on my phone with an AI chatbot. I don’t remember much from high school chemistry, but I do remember the term “covalent bonding” so that is what I worked with.
First, I asked the bot to describe covalent bonding to a three-year-old. The response was so simple that I understood the concept in a moment. I also got an example I can easily describe to my three-year-old son if necessary. Then, I asked the bot to write a poem about covalent bonding, which it did. If one of my students gave me that poem, I would be impressed. The bot compared covalent to ionic bonding and explained the differences to me. Then I asked it to write another poem about this comparison which it did. It took less than a second. I asked a whole bunch of “what if” questions involving covalent bonding. I asked if some elements are better suited to covalent or ionic bonding and why. I asked the bot to write a haiku about covalent bonding. Nothing phased it. “Use covalent bonding as a metaphor for religion.” I got an excellent answer. This bot is making me feel stupid, not because I barely remember all this chemistry stuff, but because I can’t think of a creative question that confuses it. I planned an entire experiment to test the covalent bonding I could do at home with my three-year-old, with an explanation of the result. I don’t even need to know how to use a search engine anymore.
This small experiment has shown me that I almost certainly do not need to learn any math or science to help my son as he grows up and goes through school. It has been less than a year since the release of ChatGPT, and it feels to me like I don’t need to “understand” anything from high school. If I need something, I can ask for my phone and I’ll a better result than anything I could do. So if I am not motivated to learn for “understanding” to help my flesh and blood, why do we expect our students to be motivated? I know smarter people than I am studying AIs very carefully, but from my limited experience and what I’ve heard, it seems like the vast majority of cognitive processing average people will ever need to do can be handled by these AI bots. I know how technology works; these bots will only get better and better as time goes on.
The Keasy Depot 