"AI" News And Notes, July 16, 2024

The Summer Of "AI" Discontent is in full swing.

It’s time for some news, news, news! Image from BMoreArt.

Some wonder why I am so skeptical of “AI.”

It’s because I have an internet connection and can read English.

The latest news on the subject has been mostly negative. Let’s dive in.

“AI” News

“AI” And Pedogy

University of Pennsylvania researchers studied “AI” tutors and found that “Generative AI Can Harm Learning.” Dr. Hamsa Bastani shared findings on Twitter, such as:

• “…Students use GenAI as a "crutch," harming their learning.”

• “…Access to GenAI tutors improves student performance on practice problems (relative to tools like textbooks). But, students that accessed GenAI tutors perform 17% *worse* on a subsequent exam after access is taken away. In other words, GenAI harms learning!”

• “Students seem to use GenAI as a "crutch" & simply copy answers instead of engaging substantively.”

• “…Students' perceptions are overly optimistic about their learning w/ GenAI & subsequent exam performance.”

Dr. Alp Süngü added, “Our research shows students using books for exam prep did better than those using books + GenAI. Why? They see GenAI as an answer machine, not a learning tool. If AI productivity gains are offset by hampered human capital, it might hurt the labor market.”

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ETS researchers compared human grading to generative “AI” grading. Read about the racial bias they found here:

• Researchers Warn of Potential for Racial Bias in AI Apps in the Classroom by Jill Barshay for The Hechinger Report, published on KQED’s website, July 8, 2024.

John Warner continued his excellent work with his Inside Higher Ed piece, Calling B.S. on the AI Education Future. Some quotes include:

• “Which group are institutions going to listen to about how to go about their work, venture capitalists or people who know something about teaching and learning?”

• “As a teacher of writing, I cannot outsource giving writing feedback to something that cannot read.”

• “The cheerleaders for the use of this technology in educational spaces appear to know little to nothing about education. The only way this gets traction is if we ignore this distinction.”

• “AI assigns the work, students use AI to do the work, AI grades the work. Humans are in the loop to do what, exactly?”

The74 interviewed Cognitive Resonance author Benjamin Riley.

• Benjamin Riley: AI is Another Ed Tech Promise Destined to Fail by Greg Toppo for The74, July 16, 2024.

Interesting quotes from the interview include:

• “…With LLMs you will have this infinitely patient teacher. But that’s actually not what you want from a teacher. You want, in some sense, an impatient teacher who’s going to push your thinking, who’s going to try to understand what you’re bringing to any task or educational experience, lift up the strengths that you have, and then work on building your knowledge in areas where you don’t yet have it. I don’t think LLMs are capable of doing any of that.”

• “Even some of the people who are trying to push it out into the world acknowledge this [LLMs generating factually inaccurate information], but then they’ll just put this little asterisk: “And that’s why an educator must always double-check.” Well, who has the time? I mean, what utility is this? And then people will say, “Well yes, but surely it’s going to get better in the future.” To which I say, Maybe, let’s wait and see. Maybe we should wait until we’ve arrived at that point before we push this out.”

“AI” Inaccuracy

In generative “AI” inaccuracy news, Google researchers said, “…Contamination of publicly accessible data with AI-generated content could potentially impede information retrieval and distort collective understanding of socio-political reality or scientific consensus.”

Interestingly, Google’s “AI overviews rollout coincided with a significant drop in mobile searches,” according to a new study by search industry expert Rand Fishkin. I switched to DuckDuckGo for search when Google rolled out “AI” overviews. I guess I was not alone in that reaction.

“AI” Hype

I am a big fan of 404 Media. It is “owned, written, [and] edited by four journalists who until very recently worked at VICE’s Motherboard.” That gives 404 the freedom to craft “AI” hype-bursting headlines such as this:

• AI Finds That AI Is Great In New Garbage Research From Tony Blair Institute by Emanuel Maiberg for 404, July 10, 2024.

The LAUSD Ed Debacle

I have not yet had a chance to address Los Angeles Unified School District’s Ed chatbot and the demise of the company behind it. Here are some recent informative articles on the subject:

• L.A. Schools Probe Charges its Hyped, Now-Defunct AI Chatbot Misused Student Data by Mark Keierleber for The74, July 10, 2024.

• Supt. Carvalho moves ahead with troubled AI effort despite collapse of tech contractor by Howard Blume for The Los Angeles Times, July 11, 2024.

• Was Los Angeles Schools’ $6 Million AI Venture a Disaster Waiting to Happen? by Greg Toppo for The74, July 9, 2024.

Creativity

I advocate for creativity in the face of "AI" hype. Brian Merchant wrote an essay that does exactly that.

AI is not "democratizing creativity." It's doing the opposite

“AI” Environmental Harm

The evidence that “AI” is not sustainable and does real environmental damage continues to pile up.

• AI brings soaring emissions for Google and Microsoft, a major contributor to climate change by Dara Kerr for NPR, July 12, 2024.

• AI's Energy Demands Are Out of Control. Welcome to the Internet's Hyper-Consumption Era by Reece Rogers for Wired, July 11, 2024.

• Washington Post Launches AI to Answer Climate Questions, But It Won't Say Whether AI Is Bad for the Climate by Maggie Harrison Dupré for Futurism, July 11, 2024.

OpenAI And Its Theranos-Like Secrecy

I have written about OpenAI’s Theranos-like secrecy. Whistleblowers recently asked the SEC to investigate the company’s employee NDAs.

• OpenAI whistleblowers ask SEC to investigate the company's non-disclosure agreements with employees. The Associated Press, July 15, 2024.

The COPIED Act

A bipartisan group of senators introduced the COPIED (Content Origin and Integrity from Edited and Deepfake Media) Act, which would regulate generative “AI.” It is confusing what the act would do, but Dr. Casey Fielser of the University of Colorado has a good explainer:

@professorcaseyNew AI copyright deepfake bill proposed in the U.S. - the COPIED Act. #aipolicy #aicopyright #aiethics #airegulation #copiedact

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Just For Fun

I have to share comedian Kylie Brakeman’s take on “AI.”

@deadeyebrakemanEvery post by an AI guy

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In Case You Missed It

I have dropped a lot of content over the last two weeks.

Register¹ for the Shake Up Learning Summer Learning Series all-access pass.

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🎵 And that’s in the news 🎵 Image from SNL Archives.

Continue The Conversation

Does your school or conference need a tech-forward educator who critically examines “AI” and pedagogy? Reach out on Twitter or email mistermullaney@gmail.com.

Post Image: The blog post image is by Markus Spiske from Pexels.

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