NYC Schools Issue TOTAL BAN On Controversial A.I. ChatGPT

The New York City education department has issued a total ban on access to controversial ChatGPT for students and teachers. John Iadarola and Farron Cousins break it down on The Damage Report.

Read more here:

"New York City’s education department has banned access to ChatGPT, a chatbot that uses machine learning to craft realistic text, out of concern for “safety and accuracy.”

As first reported by Chalkbeat New York, the ban will apply to devices and internet networks belonging to the education department. Individual schools can request access to ChatGPT for the purpose of studying AI and technology-related education, according to a department spokesperson.

“Due to concerns about negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of content, access to ChatGPT is restricted on New York City Public Schools’ networks and devices,” education department spokesperson Jenna Lyle told Motherboard in a statement. “While the tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions, it does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic and lifelong success.”"

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#TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurks

[timkaldahl]

As a teacher I work very hard to ask questions that can't be answered with a simple search. Teaching information literacy is extremely important.

[Cognizant]

Love to see you guys teaming up with Farron, so much, lately. He's a great political commentator, and your styles suit each other. 👍

[VeronicaPrior]

Hand-held calculators were banned in schools when they first came out.

[huey]

The big issue with schools and ChatGPT is that this AI tool is exposing how poorly children are being taught in school today, and it has been an issue since I was attending school back in the 1980's where there was so much emphasis on rote learning and memorization of events, formulas, equations, etc. and very little taught about critical thinking. It's not hard to write a term paper about the Civil War and the battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg, and with ChatGPT it can write an entire synopsis in 30 seconds, but it can't teach thinking in theorizing what would have happened if the South won the war, or why ammonia should not be mixed with chlorine bleach (it releases explosive chlorine gas). The best teachers already include these types of assignments in their curricula, but certain politicians are furiously trying to stamp out this type of teaching at all schools.

[vkcpopp]

When I was in school, we were told we could not use "Cliffs Notes". We had no internet. Writing a paper from multiple sources and including end notes to substantiate our sources forced hours and hours needed in university libraries for multiple classes.

[NobleHereticLP]

Idea on how such a chat bot could be used: Use a chat bot as an opponent for students to practice debate skills against.

[bearwithsunglassesandicecr]

ChatGpt will change how education is handled worldwide just wait complete reform will be needed.

[sophiophile]

A big problem with ChatGPT/LaMDA and other transformer-based language models for essays is 'hallucinations' or confabulation (as they are sometimes stupidly referred to), where it just seems to make random facts up or attributes BS quotes to famous people. They usually sound quite plausible, but are just flat out untrue.

It also often will sort of 'talk down' to the level that someone is conversing with it at. Like (making up this example) if you sort of imply that the fish is a dolphin, and ask a question about most complex fish cognition- it won't necessarily add a clarification that dolphins/cetaceans are mammals when it tells you cool things about them.

[cardboardpolitician]

Instead of banning AI they should teach them how to use it responsibly.

[vietnammg]

Stop the madness and evils of Sillicon Valley.

[mackthenight]

I remember back in the '70s when schools banned calculators for the same reason. As you can see it did not last long, and it shows. When was the last time you were in a checkout line and the power went out? The poor cashier couldn't make change for a $5.83 purchase out of a $10 bill. Sad.

[Justanotherandy]

The people that can't critically think aren't going to suddenly develop the skills. Many people cannot and will not, ever! Evidence: NY just elected George Santos.

[digydog]

If I was a teacher here’s the assignment: Have chat gpt write up an essay on [whatever specific topic being taught], then grade it yourself and give it back to me.
You can then grade how well they actually understand a topic… minus points for missing inaccuracies, must leave a cogent remarks on every paragraph, etc…

[andreakitajo]

I remember in high school and college we were told we couldn't use Cliff Notes for book reports. Now kids came get everything the need from their phones. I was a substitute teacher in a special ed class and I was teaching basic math. I was asked by a student why they need to learn this when the could just use the calculator on their phones to calculate anything they needed.

[hankthepatriot]

The ability to learn and execute CRITICAL THINKING skills is a dying art... I can see the benefits of an app like this (giving an alternative view point) BUT only AFTER the users have developed these skills the "old fashioned" way by ACTUALLY LEARNING them!

[Terrell]

When it comes to these essay/writing requirements I wonder how necessary they actually are. I do think that at least some of it isn't really about necessity but about how much bullshit can we require. Of course this is coming from someone who hated English classes from 9th grade onward due to these requirements, they got tedious very quickly.

[digydog]

Yeah but u could still use it…
It’s literally impossible to detect!
I asked chat gpt what a good solution is, and it said more in class essays- less homework 😊

[Topper-tech]

My book report on "The Hobbit" can still be found that I uploaded in 1998 out of interest of the new internet. Now I regret it because it stopped some other kid from reading the book.

[Montie-Adkins]

This is what they did in Dune, and partly in Star Wars.

[chrisoffersen]

I’ve been using ChatGPT to enhance my learning. Part of learning is parsing out the inaccuracies, and ChatGPT certainly has them. Where it’s very beneficial is in developing the vocabulary in a subject to ask questions of other sources. Then you compare the sources and see which answers resolve more in line with observations.