[sammyoos]

*One consequence of this boom in AI use is that, in my online classes, I can no longer be sure of what my students are learning. I have no way of determining which concepts they are grasping and which are proving elusive.*

As someone who regularly interviews students for jobs, it is clear that the universities that have permissive use of AI for assignment completion produce graduates that know very little about the core concepts of their studies. Many students cannot explain simple concepts and base level assignments take significantly longer.

[phillipcarter]

As a former college student who took online courses as well, I can assure you that in the years before ChatGPT, at least half (if not more) of the students could not explain the core concepts of their studies either.

[velcrovan]

And there is the answer. You are talking to the students. Post author complains he has no way of determining whether they’re picking up what he’s putting down. Maybe he should try talking to them.

[behnamoh]

on the other hand, they might produce students that know how to use AI tools, and in the long-term that might be what businesses prefer – employees who know how to use AI, not employees who have memorized facts in school.

[alwa]

On the third hand, it’s hard to develop meta-level skills—nuanced judgment and wisdom in a domain—without engaging over a long period with the peas-and-carrots aspects of the domain. I guess it’s kind of the “where’s our next crop of senior engineers going to come from?” worry around these parts.

Then again maybe you’re right, maybe AI Operator is the domain where it’s important to develop meta-skills now. I can’t imagine someone who chose to use their school years specializing in that is anybody I’d want to hire or work with, though: it would seem to signal an incurious and timid mind, one that chose to optimize for metrics (grades) rather than the substance of the work at hand. But that bias is the same reason I don’t thrive in large corporate environments in the first place.

Still I have a hard time imagining that AI Operation skills take enough developing to be worth somebody’s time to specialize in as a student. Could just be old-fashioned, though—spoken like an outsider ignorant of the finer points of AI Operation...

[animuchan]

But the AI tools are extremely easy to use, and their usability improves over time.

Of course the businesses prefer the commoditization of the employees, — if everyone uses AI anyway, why not hire the cheapest possible candidates?

For the employees this situation is beyond catastrophic. So maybe memorizing facts in school to gain some competitive edge is even more valuable in this setting.

[ghaff]

Although everything I hear talking to people is that it's newer/lower-level employees that are most being commoditized (and not just by AI).

[thesuitonym]

Businesses might prefer it, but businesses often prefer things that are known to be bad for society and individuals.

[david38]

Cheating != permissive.