Week 2: Machines versus Humans
For this weeks post I’d like to focus on at topic brought up in Mondays presentation. The question/topic was basically asking if machines could ever replace human educators.
This whole area brings me back to a class in my undergrad called “Perception.” One of the things we discussed in that class was artificial intelligence (A.I). A lot if tasks were around that, one of which being completing our own turing test. Basically, if any artificial intelligence can make a human believe that “they” are undistinguishable from another human, they pass the test. No A.I has passed to date. However, A.I today is extremely high tech, and getting closed. Just look at Sophia on YouTube to see what I mean.
So do I think a machine can ever pass a turing test? Yes, eventually. Do I think that once this happens it makes it more likely humans can be replaceable? In short, yes. However, we are not there yet, and I do not believe educators are replaceable.
One reason we are not yet replaceable is our ability to model. It is proven to work, especially with reading and writing that children learn really well when we model how to write and read. With reading, its more of an encouragement strategy. With writing, they can physically see how it should be done, while perhaps making “human” errors/corrections.
Another factor on why we are not yet replaceable is our ability to empathize and deal with situations that may require past experience bias. For example what is right/wrong in certain situations. This brings about moral dilemmas and how to handle, think, and reason in those situations.
Overall we are not yet replaceable, but I wouldn’t rule out the fact that technology can take us that far. The question would then be , “Should technology replace human educators?”
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello Osian, I share your thought we are not 'yet' replaceable by technology because of the 'biotic' elements that we possess as teachers but that may not be for long because change is the only constant thing. Technology will not replace educators if we also continue to develop our skills.
DeleteGood afternoon Osian. I was wondering you could explain more about what the turing test is and what it is used for. I find the idea of an AI technology taking a test to be quite interesting. I knew that technology is often tested by humans to see if it works properly but never AI taking a test. One of my favourite movies is called Big Hero Six. In the movie, Tadashi creates a robot called Baymax to be a health care provider. Hiro, Tadashi's brother creates a new program to turn Baymax into a flying machine who could help him find out who burned down the local university. It will be interesting to see how technology/ AI continues to be used in our classrooms throughout our careers.
ReplyDeleteTo pass a turing test, an AI must use natural language, reason, have knowledge and learn. This is what AI creators strive for when designing AI. Its like creating life that is basically like a human. The test itself is literally an interview, and tricky for designing questions. I’ve never watched that movie, is it good??
ReplyDelete