Ok_Homework9290 t1_j3xix9p wrote on January 11, 2023 at 7:18 PM

Reply to comment by h20ohno in Australian universities to return to ‘pen and paper’ exams after students caught using AI to write essays | Australian universities by geeceeza

But universities are for more than just learning:

The degree, which is a requirement at many jobs.

Becoming independent for the first time in one's life.

Meeting new people from different backgrounds and exposing oneself to new ideas.

The experience, which many college students enjoy.

Etc.

In any case, I doubt AI is going to replace educators anytime soon.

For AI to be as valuable as a teacher/tutor/professor, it would have to essentially be perfect at educating, and perfecting AI takes a FAR, FAR longer time than making it good (a level that some would argue AI hasn't reached yet in the educating realm, despite tools like ChatGPT being as impressive as they are).

Never mind that a lot of education is hands-on, so you have to be present at a school/campus/etc. with a human educator to guide you through that.

Also, take into account that not all knowledge taught at schools is on the internet, which is where AI learns from.

Given these reasons and others, I don't really see the education system being disrupted anytime soon, but it will definitely change.

LoquaciousAntipodean t1_j3y06nd wrote on January 11, 2023 at 9:05 PM

I'm not talking about 'replacing' educators at all; I'm talking about enhancing the education experience for everybody. As useful as robust academic LLMs would be to students, just imagine how useful they could be to teachers, tutors, professors, course coordinators, academic administrators.

Why should an AI vs a human be a zero-sum game, like you seem to suggest? Why in the world should humans consider themselves in a rivalry with such minds, when the evolutionary reality is much more like a case of symbiosis and mutual benefit?

AI in general, and LLMs in particular, are not substitutes or replacements for human beings; they are enhancements. They are tools we have made to help us, and they are so advanced that they're rapidly striving to become colleagues, instead of mere appliances.

I don't understand why this is so scary to so many people, I really don't. Perhaps misguided capitalists will try to exploit AI nefariously, but those people are dumb and greedy, and I'm reasonably confident that any half-intelligent LLM would be able to run rings around those kinds of clowns. Billionaires are not ubermensch, they're just lucky and sociopathically avaricious, and they're the biggest social ill that I hope AI will help humanity to remedy.