AI Coach Or Crutch Guiding Kids To Learn Better

It's a common concern: students simply copying and pasting ChatGPT answers for their assignments, bypassing the learning process. According to renowned psychologist and author Angela Duckworth, this approach is a missed opportunity. Artificial intelligence, she argues, holds the potential to transform students into more effective learners if used correctly.

The Pitfall of Passive AI Use

Duckworth, speaking at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education commencement ceremony, stressed that instead of distrusting AI, we should guide children on its proper application. The key is to move beyond surface-level interaction. Parents and teachers can demonstrate how to unlock AI's full potential by encouraging students to ask AI models follow-up questions. This helps them understand, in detail, how chatbots arrive at their conclusions.

AI as a Coach: Unlocking Deeper Understanding

"AI isn't always a crutch, it can also be a coach," explained Duckworth, who brings a unique perspective from her background in neurobiology at Harvard University and her current role teaching psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. "In my view, [ChatGPT] has a hidden pedagogical superpower. It can teach by example."

Duckworth herself was initially skeptical about AI. However, a personal experience shifted her perspective. When stumped by a complex statistics concept and pressed for time, she turned to ChatGPT. The chatbot provided a definition, examples, and common misuses of the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure.

Crucially, she didn't stop there. Duckworth engaged with the AI, asking clarifying follow-up questions and requesting demonstrations. After just ten minutes, she gained a clear understanding of what she described as "a pretty sophisticated statistical procedure." She reflected, "AI helped me reach a level of understanding that far exceed what I could achieve on my own."

Navigating AI's Limitations: The Need for Critical Evaluation

It's important to acknowledge that even the most advanced generative AI models are not infallible. They can suffer from "hallucinations" and factual inaccuracies, as data indicates. This means a critical skill for users, especially children, is to always double-check factual claims made by AI.

Billionaire entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban voiced a similar perspective in a New York magazine interview, suggesting that "how to use AI" should become a standard part of school curricula. "The challenge isn't that kids are using it. The challenge is that schools haven't adapted to the fact that it's available and kids are literate in using it," Cuban stated. He highlighted that simply knowing what questions to ask AI is a valuable skillset.

Practical Strategies for Using AI in Learning

Given that AI tools can make mistakes, their most effective use might be in supportive roles rather than for producing final outputs. Side hustle expert Kathy Kristof shared with CNBC Make It that AI can be excellent for tasks like creating a bullet-point outline for a writing project, rather than writing the entire piece.

"While I still see AI making a lot of mistakes, picking up errors or outdated information, using AI to create a first draft of something that's then reviewed and edited by human intelligence seems like a no-brainer," said Kristof, founder of the SideHusl.com blog.

Evidence of AI as a Learning Catalyst

Encouragingly, research is emerging that supports AI's role in enhancing learning. Duckworth mentioned a recent study conducted by one of her doctorate students. This study, though not yet peer-reviewed, involved participants practicing writing cover letters, with some allowed to use chatbots. When later tasked to write a cover letter without any assistance, the group that had previously used AI produced stronger letters on their own.

"Over and over, I watched [ChatGPT] shorten sentences that were too long, weed out needless repetition and even reorder ideas so they flowed more logically," Duckworth said, referencing the research findings. This suggests that AI, when used as an interactive tool, can help individuals internalize principles of effective communication and critical thinking.