Category: Critical Perspectives
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The Myth of the AI First Draft
I write daily, often for hours at a time. I’m an author of fiction and nonfiction, and even when I’m not writing something for publication I fill notebooks with ideas and frequently illegible scribbles. I’ve also taught writing for almost two decades, and I understand that not everyone loves writing as much as I do.…
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Chatbots don’t make sense – they make words
Despite the hype surrounding advanced Large Language Models like GPT-4, there is yet to be any evidence that these kinds of AI can think. In this post, I’m exploring how chatbots are built and trained, and why a little technical understanding goes a long way. Knowing even the broad strokes of how large language models…
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Dead-end chatbots: Why chatbots aren’t the future of generative AI in education
I recently ran a series of posts on LinkedIn arguing that chatbots are a dead-end in education. I think it’s fair to say that the posts ruffled a few feathers. My DMs quickly filled with people touting their made-for-education products and services, and if I’d only try them I’d see why I was totally wrong.…
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Digital plastic: Generative AI and the digital ecosystem
I’ve got a love hate relationship with the metaphors we use to talk about Artificial Intelligence, but at the risk of seeming hypocritical I’m going to make one anyway. I’m also going to mangle several fields of science, geology, and archaeology in the process, but hey, it’s all in the pursuit of The Metaphor. I…
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Myths, magic, and metaphors: the language of generative AI
As part of my PhD studies, I read and write a lot of stuff that doesn’t really fit into my research, but which I find interesting anyway. I’m categorising these “spare parts” on my blog, and if you’re interested in following them you’ll find them all here. I’ve written a fair bit about AI ethics,…
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What happens when Generative AI disappears into the woodwork?
As part of my PhD studies, I read and write a lot of stuff that doesn’t really fit into my research, but which I find interesting anyway. I’m categorising these “spare parts” on my blog, and if you’re interested in following them you’ll find them all here. At the moment we’re still in the thick…
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Creative but critical: How educators can learn to live with AI
December 2022 represented a step-change in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. With the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, suddenly the whole world (or at least the millions of users who logged in within a week of its launch) were talking about Large Language Models. LLMs represent just a portion of AI technologies, but ChatGPT shifted the public…
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Beyond Efficiency: AI can be more than just “Edtech 2.0”
Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT launched in December, there has been plenty of speculation about the implications for education. Articles ranging from The End of High School English to ChatGPT as a saviour for time-poor teachers have filled people’s feeds for the past month. We’ve seen ChatGPT labelled everything from”mind-blowing“, to a threat to the future of…