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by peterbell_nyc 32 days ago
The problem isn't the AI - it's the assessments. It used to be that shipping a large, well-researched essay with multiple citations was proof of work. Now it's proof of prompting, not learning or effort.

If you want to test for memorization, you need a live test to do so.

If you want to test for comprehension and understanding, require sessions with a tutoring AI and grade the level of comprehension exhibited.

And then please, please test for prompting with challenging assignments that would usually be beyond a student's skills and make sure they know how to drive the machines to do valued work.

I totally agree that there is utility in memorization and comprehension. I also know that by the time students graduate, AI will be the job and if they can't pair successfully with agentic workflows they will not be much use in the work force for many roles.

3 comments

> require sessions with a tutoring AI

There are few things more unenjoyable than parroting things I know to AI. I hope this is not the future we create for the next generation

> And then please, please test for prompting with challenging assignments that would usually be beyond a student's skills

Does this mean you will requre all students to pay for a subscription to an llm provider?

does this mean that every student will need to pay a computer manufacturer to finish university?
Or pay publishers for textbooks?
Yes, but it must be the university approved version that costs 20x the consumer / business version.

Sounds like sarcasm, but the wheels appear to already be in motion on this.

>require sessions with a tutoring AI and grade the level of comprehension exhibited.

What fresh hell is this?