Will artificial intelligence transform school? – The Economist
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“Books will soon be obsolete in schools,” opined Thomas Edison in 1913. He believed the motion picture would replace texts and teachers as means of instruction, and that it would happen within a decade. A century later, Mr Edison is unwilling to admit error, no matter how hard your correspondent probes. He insists his prediction was “not entirely incorrect”, and that he got it “both right and wrong”. The best he will offer is that it was “perhaps a bit premature”.
This slippery interviewee is not, needless to say, the long-dead Wizard of Menlo Park. It is a chatbot generated by Khanmigo—a set of AI tools designed for students and teachers that was released in America last year. Users who tire of teasing Mr Edison can speak instead to other giants of history like Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill or William Shakespeare, or with famous characters from literature. Kids may ask Captain Ahab about his whale, Victor Frankenstein about his monster, and Winnie where he got the name Pooh.
Khanmigo—produced by Khan Academy, an education non-profit, and powered by ChatGPT—can do lots of other startling things. Ask it a maths problem, and it will guide you through the steps required to figure out the answer for yourself. Ask for help writing a science-fiction story, and it will trade you a sentence for a sentence until your hero gets gobbled by an alien or falls into a black hole. The gobsmacking speed at which such tools are developing has revived grand visions of tech-driven transformation, in which every child is educated by an all-knowing, automated tutor.
This article appeared in the Special report section of the print edition under the headline “What will AI mean for school?”
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Published since September 1843 to take part in “a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress.”
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Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
“Books will soon be obsolete in schools,” opined Thomas Edison in 1913. He believed the motion picture would replace texts and teachers as means of instruction, and that it would happen within a decade. A century later, Mr Edison is unwilling to admit error, no matter how hard your correspondent probes. He insists his prediction was “not entirely incorrect”, and that he got it “both right and wrong”. The best he will offer is that it was “perhaps a bit premature”.
This slippery interviewee is not, needless to say, the long-dead Wizard of Menlo Park. It is a chatbot generated by Khanmigo—a set of AI tools designed for students and teachers that was released in America last year. Users who tire of teasing Mr Edison can speak instead to other giants of history like Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill or William Shakespeare, or with famous characters from literature. Kids may ask Captain Ahab about his whale, Victor Frankenstein about his monster, and Winnie where he got the name Pooh.
Khanmigo—produced by Khan Academy, an education non-profit, and powered by ChatGPT—can do lots of other startling things. Ask it a maths problem, and it will guide you through the steps required to figure out the answer for yourself. Ask for help writing a science-fiction story, and it will trade you a sentence for a sentence until your hero gets gobbled by an alien or falls into a black hole. The gobsmacking speed at which such tools are developing has revived grand visions of tech-driven transformation, in which every child is educated by an all-knowing, automated tutor.
This article appeared in the Special report section of the print edition under the headline “What will AI mean for school?”
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Published since September 1843 to take part in “a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress.”
To enhance your experience and ensure our website runs smoothly, we use cookies and similar technologies.
Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
