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Would you buy an AI-generated Castle Greyhawk "by" Gary Gygax?" Should you?
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<blockquote data-quote="Clint_L" data-source="post: 9234587" data-attributes="member: 7035894"><p>What if they are good? Also, how do you know that <em>human</em> creativity is not essentially "statistical models on steroids"?</p><p></p><p>Both these statements are true. You might add that we don't fully understand how generative AI works, as well, and that considerable ongoing research is showing that generative AI exceeds what were thought to be its parameters in a number of surprising ways.</p><p></p><p>Although we don't understand how human cognition works, it's not magical. It's a physical process happening in a bioelectrical machine. An incredibly complex one; much, much more complicated than anything else in the known universe.</p><p></p><p>I teach Theory of Knowledge, Creative Writing, and Language&Literature, with an MA (and ABD on my doctorate in the latter). I have decades of classroom experience. One reason generative AI writing has shaken me, and many others, is that it has exposed potential problems with how we have approached human writing. Because, like it or not, generative AI is very good at certain writing tasks; far more so than even competent humans. This is not my opinion; generative AI has done much better on a great number of standardized written tests than most humans can. Much as a calculator can perform mathematical computations much better and, in particular, faster than humans, generative AI can already do basic writing tasks much better and, in particular, faster than humans.</p><p></p><p>As it turns out, there is tremendous value in being able to do mathematical computations accurately and quickly, and there is tremendous value in being able to do basic writing tasks accurately (more or less; writing is generally more subjective than math) and quickly. For example, my BFF's law firm now employs far less office staff because a great deal of the rote writing jobs are now prepared by AI and then reviewed by a lawyer, rather than being written by clerks and reviewed by a lawyer.</p><p></p><p>On top of that, this suggests that much of the writing that humans do might be basically repetition. This is what generative AI is forcing teachers to confront. I spend years teaching students how to write essays. I am spending a good chunk of my winter break marking ToK Essays. These are from IB Diploma candidates in their final year, and the average marks I am giving on the first draft are D/C- (they'll get there, but plenty of revision is needed!). And a huge amount of my time is spent on helping students express their ideas more clearly; basically, teaching them to use grammar and syntax to convey a complicated thought.</p><p></p><p>Generative AI doesn't have the complicated thought. But it does have a very good handle on the grammar and syntax! So in a way, I feel like math teachers probably felt in the 1960s, when they spent most of their time trying to teach fundamental rules just so that a few students could one day go on to do interesting things in the field.</p><p></p><p>What I am getting at is that, from my perspective, generative AI offers an opportunity to accelerate human learning in the arts similar to what calculators did for mathematics. Right now, the education system strongly rewards brains that are very good at quickly (by human standards) picking up the repetitive aspects of reading and writing, because that's the model of the mind that was prioritized a few centuries ago when public education was being invented. And this has led to many, many people not getting much from education, being left feeling stupid and useless, and often being shunted away into lower socio-economic strata. I think it has created a vast waste of human potential. Generative AI poses an existential challenge to the fundamental premises of modern education, and I am hoping it will be the catalyst we need to fundamentally shake up a model of the <em>human</em> mind that is ever more outdated.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Clint_L, post: 9234587, member: 7035894"] What if they are good? Also, how do you know that [I]human[/I] creativity is not essentially "statistical models on steroids"? Both these statements are true. You might add that we don't fully understand how generative AI works, as well, and that considerable ongoing research is showing that generative AI exceeds what were thought to be its parameters in a number of surprising ways. Although we don't understand how human cognition works, it's not magical. It's a physical process happening in a bioelectrical machine. An incredibly complex one; much, much more complicated than anything else in the known universe. I teach Theory of Knowledge, Creative Writing, and Language&Literature, with an MA (and ABD on my doctorate in the latter). I have decades of classroom experience. One reason generative AI writing has shaken me, and many others, is that it has exposed potential problems with how we have approached human writing. Because, like it or not, generative AI is very good at certain writing tasks; far more so than even competent humans. This is not my opinion; generative AI has done much better on a great number of standardized written tests than most humans can. Much as a calculator can perform mathematical computations much better and, in particular, faster than humans, generative AI can already do basic writing tasks much better and, in particular, faster than humans. As it turns out, there is tremendous value in being able to do mathematical computations accurately and quickly, and there is tremendous value in being able to do basic writing tasks accurately (more or less; writing is generally more subjective than math) and quickly. For example, my BFF's law firm now employs far less office staff because a great deal of the rote writing jobs are now prepared by AI and then reviewed by a lawyer, rather than being written by clerks and reviewed by a lawyer. On top of that, this suggests that much of the writing that humans do might be basically repetition. This is what generative AI is forcing teachers to confront. I spend years teaching students how to write essays. I am spending a good chunk of my winter break marking ToK Essays. These are from IB Diploma candidates in their final year, and the average marks I am giving on the first draft are D/C- (they'll get there, but plenty of revision is needed!). And a huge amount of my time is spent on helping students express their ideas more clearly; basically, teaching them to use grammar and syntax to convey a complicated thought. Generative AI doesn't have the complicated thought. But it does have a very good handle on the grammar and syntax! So in a way, I feel like math teachers probably felt in the 1960s, when they spent most of their time trying to teach fundamental rules just so that a few students could one day go on to do interesting things in the field. What I am getting at is that, from my perspective, generative AI offers an opportunity to accelerate human learning in the arts similar to what calculators did for mathematics. Right now, the education system strongly rewards brains that are very good at quickly (by human standards) picking up the repetitive aspects of reading and writing, because that's the model of the mind that was prioritized a few centuries ago when public education was being invented. And this has led to many, many people not getting much from education, being left feeling stupid and useless, and often being shunted away into lower socio-economic strata. I think it has created a vast waste of human potential. Generative AI poses an existential challenge to the fundamental premises of modern education, and I am hoping it will be the catalyst we need to fundamentally shake up a model of the [I]human[/I] mind that is ever more outdated. [/QUOTE]
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