CEO of ChatGPT maker responds to schools' plagiarism concerns: 'We adapted to calculators and changed what we tested in math class'

I am an elementary and former secondary school teacher. He’s right. In math class, we are still taught to calculate using strategies that don’t involve a calculator. This ensures that students understand the concepts before entering them into a calculator. The same is for reading and writing. We teach kids how to read paper books and write with pencil and paper so that they understand what they’re doing. We also teach kids how to type with a computer and use word processing programs, including programs that read selected text out loud to kids and speech-to-text software. This is simply the next step. Teachers can still teach writing with a pencil, writing by typing, and writing using speech-to-text. One skill does not replace the other, but adds to it. This is how literacy has always progressed. Think of the time when the printing press was invented. There were massive outcries against it, saying that it would reduce our ability to communicate orally. Have we stopped speaking? Did writing replace speech? No. It did change it, however, as less emphasis was placed on oral storytelling to pass down traditional stories and ideas. The same will go for this new technology. AI writing software will just be a new skill that is added to the repertoire. There will be, overall, less emphasis in coming years to produce written texts as a way to demonstrate knowledge about given topic and teachers and students will have to innovate. This is already happening in classrooms all across North America, as an influx of ESL students has required teachers to assess topic knowledge without requiring writing. The specific skill of writing is separate from demonstrating knowledge. It can be used in this way, but it not the only way. Some students will need to know how to be good writers in their future, others won’t. What jobs actually truly require writing as a skill? On top of that, many of the jobs that currently use writing will evolve and change over time. I actually teach students how to write a signature (by hand), as many students do not have any ability to write in cursive at all. What is needed in society will stay, and what isn’t will evolve. For me personally, my real concern when it comes to modern technology and teaching as a teacher is why we are not putting more emphasis on coding. I personally think it should be taught as in-depth as reading and writing. Coding is simply another way to communicate and we are failing our youth if we don’t produce code-literature a generation. The issue is that, as you can see, teachers (and students) really have their hands full and it’s hard to be competent in all of these areas at once. All in all, AI writing technology is here to stay, and those that don’t adapt will be left behind, just like every other major communication technology in the past. Not a bad thing, just reality.

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