I finally got the documentation from Budget that I needed for our insurance claim on the car accident in Poland. It took them so long that Capital One’s insurer just said forget about it, and went ahead and reimbursed us the $3,800 that we’d been charged on our credit car for the car damage.
So the results were interesting although beside the point now. Budget used a standard matrix to come up with what they charged us. I thought it seemed low - the front right end of the car, the bumper and more, were just gone. Sure enough, the final bill from the autobody shop was $9,000!! They lost money on us.
The PDF documents were in Polish. I copied and pasted the information and asked AI to translate them. Not only did they come back instantly in English, they were formatted beautifully, including tables! It really is impressive.
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I teach English/writing and I would say at this point probably 90 percent of the college freshmen I work with attempt to turn in AI generated work and for the first assignment they all turn in the SAME essay making the same points in the same order, just worded slightly differently. It is always full of vague, general concepts that give no specificity, no concrete examples, and ultimately misses the mark on what the prompt has asked for.
I fully believe the studies that are coming out about how damaging AI is to your brain. The students coming through now really struggle to even understand what an assignment is asking and how to get there because they have grown so accustomed to AI doing so much of the work for them.
The environmental impact of AI really frightens me and I try my best to never use it but the few times I have forgotten to add ‘no AI’ to searches, the AI results have been incorrect or either are saying a lot to basically say they aren’t sure.
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Do you check their work or just assume all math is correct? That’s one of my fears is that we all get so comfortable asking and getting answers that we don’t bother to double check the work. It could be bad or malicious input (on the AI side).
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Yes, all of this (I teach history). It’s dispiriting and depressing. I allow students to bring cheat-sheets to their in-class exams (they have to turn in the cheat-sheets), and I think that even those are largely AI-generated (shocker: the AI-generated cheat sheets don’t help with essay questions).
I’m now revamping the class to incorporate more activities that make them think on their feet. I’m also making this article required reading: Is ChatGPT making us stupid?
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Along that line, the new Secretary of Education earlier addressed a conference about teaching A1 to elementary students. Yes, she wants to teach about steak sauce, and repeated the reference several times.
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I saw that “A-1” conversation and threw up in my mouth!
We are doomed!
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This chart on OpenAI usage by day, with a massive dropoff in early June, suggests that the primary use case is doing (cheating on?) schoolwork.
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Many HS teachers and college profs are not only allowing but are encouraging AI use, in various ways. Of course, I’m sure there’s still cheating happening. Teachers/profs are going to have to change the way they teach, test, and evaluate writing.
I wonder if we will see use pop back up now that common app is open? Lots of students using AI to brainstorm and/or write essays, lots of counselors/teachers using it to draft/write LoRs.
I know some private schools in NYC require students to do the work that count toward their grades be done in class. It prevents cheating.
You have a lot of faith in students to be proactive and work during their summer vacations, rather than waiting until right before the deadline for applications. I doubt that’s particularly common (or that the students relying on OpenAI rather than doing the work themselves are the rare proactive ones).
Ha! Many HSs do run common app workshops starting aug 1, but who knows how many students are working on essays? I’m sure teachers and counselors are working on LoRs 
My D’s HS has every incoming senior come to schools the week of 8/1 to get their common apps started, but the junior year English classes work on the common app essays before the year ends so the essays should be ready to go.
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And kids are willing to come back to school in the middle of summer break? 
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School starts next week so it’s not that early. Plus all the sports kids are already back practicing.
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Ah, ok. Around here, schools start after Labor Day.
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School started where I live this week.
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When did Summer break start?
(Just curious to see if they end class around Memorial Day or May5-15 or earlier or go till the end of May. I assume they don’t go through June? Is it related to how hot it is in May, June? No a/c in classrooms? Best months for summer jobs?)
S23 attended a high school that employed the Harkness method. I wonder if this can be the “antidote” to AI
A “flipped classroom” approach. Perhaps, another way.
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Our school year starts next week and ends in June.
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