tanteMay 14, 2025
I think the most tragic aspect of deploying "AI" in teaching and learning situations is how much it pushes people into a situation of learned helplessness. This constant feeling of not knowing how to do a thing of being incapable of actually doing work on one's tasks is mentally so harmful. How do people under those conditions gain confidence in their abilities? Like ever?
Show threadSkjeggtrollMay 14, 2025

@tante

In the context of education specifically, it also just shows a complete disregard for understanding and knowledge having value in and of themselves. If if someone believes that "AI" is a good method for achieving correct results, that shouldn't be _enough_ to warrant using it in education.

Show threadStefan IhringerMay 14, 2025
@skjeggtroll @tante Sometimes comparisons to pocket calculators are made. Nobody misses doing logarithms by hand and a society with calculators is vastly superior to one without them.
What are good arguments against that? I think the main one is that AI products don’t replace basic things like multiplications. They replace things that deal with human communication, moral growth, creativity. Plus: you don’t own the LLM like you do a pocket calculator.
Show threadtante
@compfu @skjeggtroll I have argued that they are fundamentally neither a calculator (https://tante.cc/2024/01/03/is-a-neural-network-like-a-pocket-calculator-ai-and-epistemic-injustice/) nor even a "tool" (https://tante.cc/2025/04/27/are-ai-system-really-tools/)
Is a neural network like a pocket calculator? "AI" and epistemic injustice

If you go to secondary school in Germany for the last 2 years you have to pick a bunch of specializations, subjects you want to focus on to a degree. You spend more time on these subjects and your final grade is strongly influenced by your results in those courses. When I picked math as […]

Smashing Frames
May 14, 2025 at 10:57amWeb
Show threadStefan IhringerMay 14, 2025
@tante @skjeggtroll Thanks, I didn’t know your essay about the calculator conparison yet. It’s indeed an important point. Owning the skills and knowledge. There was a kinda depressing article about automation coming for the IT workers who have enjoyed superstar status because their unique skills were in such high demand. I think it was by Doctorow.