In UK the people who send their kids to feel paying schools,often at the cost of struggle and going without,do so because they know that Education is about a lot more than cramming ones brain with innumerable facts. In vain will their local State Comprehensive flourish charts showing the high number of A* pupils it produced every year,all candidates for university,at least. I find it a bit sad that all our politicians see "social mobility" as having a well paid job thanks to those A*'s. I think its such a narrow definition. I enjoy classical music,go to the theatre,travel if I've ever got any money,and cook meals where all the ingredients are mixed up together not on the plate in separate dollops(think dire 1950s British home cooking) I regard this as SOCIAL MOBILITY since I was brought up in a family that self-barred from all this with the mantra "People Like Us Don't Do Things Like That". How,I hated being People Like Us,I wanted to be People Like Them.
The writer LYNSEY HANLEY from a similar background writes excellently about this.
Fabulous piece - education isn’t about ‘downloading information’, it’s about exploration. I don’t see AI replacing teachers in helping people explore the world because it doesn’t create anything new. But I’m looking forward to seeing how it can support us.
“The world's most advanced personalized generative AI chatbot is fundamentally unable to replace the personal connection offered in the relationship between the teacher and student.”
This reminds me of a major theme of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun. I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t read it, but it will inform my next question. It’s a really good book. Prescient.
If our development of AI is in its infancy, would it satisfy you if, in its maturity, an AI companion would be indistinguishable from a real human? What are you saying is fundamental that a real human brings to the task of teaching that a sufficiently advanced machine does not?
You have once again hit it out of the ballpark with this article, Professor Josh. Good work. You bring to mind some of my past teaching experiences, which include teaching driving, tutoring math and writing, and coaching sports (ice speedskating). One critical element which goes far beyond LLM training is human intuition as employed by those who instruct. This involves tons of tactile and non-verbal communication which are necessarily part of our human-to-human transactions, and could it be these factors which contribute to 2-sigma improvement in student learning? The closet Luddite in me wants to laugh off whatever progress has been claimed by educational AI developers, and I can only proffer, "Train that* into your GPT!," that* meaning human intuition and the ability to pick up, read, and effectively interpret non-verbal communication with all its nuances. Right! In short, God created the human mind, the most powerful computing device ever invented. We will never outdo the Creator (but I do find it entertaining watching others try).
Love the distinction between “personal” and “personalized” - crystalizes so simply the importance (and impact) of genuine human interaction. Great article.
Nice article thank you. I wonder if the same points you make are also applicable to on-line learning? How critical is it to a student to have a real teacher in the classroom? What about the quality of the teacher?
This is great! I am a former public school teacher, and I now tutor homeschooled students 1:1. I love Reading and Language Arts, so that is my focus and has become an expertise. I call what I do “authentically personalized” tutoring.
People have been raving about or scared of AI in recent years, but teachers who practice artfully can never be replaced.
However, it's worth noting the variability in the effectiveness of human teachers, some of whom do struggle with - poor attitude (lack of empathy, sarcasm etc) , communication, biases, or even burnout.
AI, while certainly not a replacement, could serve as a powerful tool to support teachers, offering consistency and personalised learning at scale.
By leveraging AI to handle routine tasks, find creative explanations and analyse educational data, we can enhance teachers' capabilities and even alleviate some of their burdens.
This could lead to a more balanced educational system where technology complements human efforts, ensuring all students receive a high-quality education adaptively tailored to their needs.
In UK the people who send their kids to feel paying schools,often at the cost of struggle and going without,do so because they know that Education is about a lot more than cramming ones brain with innumerable facts. In vain will their local State Comprehensive flourish charts showing the high number of A* pupils it produced every year,all candidates for university,at least. I find it a bit sad that all our politicians see "social mobility" as having a well paid job thanks to those A*'s. I think its such a narrow definition. I enjoy classical music,go to the theatre,travel if I've ever got any money,and cook meals where all the ingredients are mixed up together not on the plate in separate dollops(think dire 1950s British home cooking) I regard this as SOCIAL MOBILITY since I was brought up in a family that self-barred from all this with the mantra "People Like Us Don't Do Things Like That". How,I hated being People Like Us,I wanted to be People Like Them.
The writer LYNSEY HANLEY from a similar background writes excellently about this.
Those squirrels! Such a great photo. I do absolutely get a kick out of this. (Also hope the eggs stayed safe.) Thanks for sharing!
Fabulous piece - education isn’t about ‘downloading information’, it’s about exploration. I don’t see AI replacing teachers in helping people explore the world because it doesn’t create anything new. But I’m looking forward to seeing how it can support us.
“The world's most advanced personalized generative AI chatbot is fundamentally unable to replace the personal connection offered in the relationship between the teacher and student.”
This reminds me of a major theme of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun. I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t read it, but it will inform my next question. It’s a really good book. Prescient.
If our development of AI is in its infancy, would it satisfy you if, in its maturity, an AI companion would be indistinguishable from a real human? What are you saying is fundamental that a real human brings to the task of teaching that a sufficiently advanced machine does not?
You have once again hit it out of the ballpark with this article, Professor Josh. Good work. You bring to mind some of my past teaching experiences, which include teaching driving, tutoring math and writing, and coaching sports (ice speedskating). One critical element which goes far beyond LLM training is human intuition as employed by those who instruct. This involves tons of tactile and non-verbal communication which are necessarily part of our human-to-human transactions, and could it be these factors which contribute to 2-sigma improvement in student learning? The closet Luddite in me wants to laugh off whatever progress has been claimed by educational AI developers, and I can only proffer, "Train that* into your GPT!," that* meaning human intuition and the ability to pick up, read, and effectively interpret non-verbal communication with all its nuances. Right! In short, God created the human mind, the most powerful computing device ever invented. We will never outdo the Creator (but I do find it entertaining watching others try).
Love the distinction between “personal” and “personalized” - crystalizes so simply the importance (and impact) of genuine human interaction. Great article.
Nice article thank you. I wonder if the same points you make are also applicable to on-line learning? How critical is it to a student to have a real teacher in the classroom? What about the quality of the teacher?
Agree with everything you said. But let's face it, there's going to be AI for the wealthy, and a different AI for the rest of us.
Recently, I asked a chatbot to explain some classical guitar fingerings to me, and I got banned for prompting sexual content.
I'm thinking "what the hell?"
Yes, the AI recognized I was asking for "fingering" and based on that denied me service based on Terms of Use violations.
The versions of AI the average people have access to are crap.
This is great! I am a former public school teacher, and I now tutor homeschooled students 1:1. I love Reading and Language Arts, so that is my focus and has become an expertise. I call what I do “authentically personalized” tutoring.
People have been raving about or scared of AI in recent years, but teachers who practice artfully can never be replaced.
Great insights!
However, it's worth noting the variability in the effectiveness of human teachers, some of whom do struggle with - poor attitude (lack of empathy, sarcasm etc) , communication, biases, or even burnout.
AI, while certainly not a replacement, could serve as a powerful tool to support teachers, offering consistency and personalised learning at scale.
By leveraging AI to handle routine tasks, find creative explanations and analyse educational data, we can enhance teachers' capabilities and even alleviate some of their burdens.
This could lead to a more balanced educational system where technology complements human efforts, ensuring all students receive a high-quality education adaptively tailored to their needs.