Comment by jph00
2 days ago
Heaven forbid we let poor people use software that helps their kids read.
If they can't afford a tutor, they deserve nothing.
(Am I doing this right?)
2 days ago
Heaven forbid we let poor people use software that helps their kids read.
If they can't afford a tutor, they deserve nothing.
(Am I doing this right?)
Your reaction is based on 3 unproven assertions:
* An AI tutor is a net positive in learning for the subject matter it covers.
* An AI tutor does not cause other harms.
* An AI tutor is going to be cheap enough that someone who cannot afford a human tutor will still be able to afford an AI tutor.
I'm mostly willing to give the benefit of the doubt on the first point, but the third point seems unlikely, and history has given us no shortage of reasons to distrust tech companies on the second point, even if we assume this company can be trusted now.
The second one feels like a subset of the first. If it’s net positive, the other harms are worth it.
And I don’t think you’re really engaging with what they said, which is that it might be better than nothing, which is what is realistically available to many kids. Do you really think something like this is worse than nothing?
Your reaction is based on 3 unproven assertions:
* An AI tutor is a net negative in learning for the subject matter it covers.
* An AI tutor does cause other harms.
* An AI tutor is going to be more expensive that someone who cannot afford a human tutor will still be able to afford an AI tutor.
Seriously, my first reaction to reading this headline was a knee jerk "are you insane", but this whole thread is just people arguing out of their arse while claiming authority. As of today, it was never attempted. It is also possible that the kids gain an advantage by learning to use llms to teach themselves things, which would be positive for their future.
I don't think it's going to happen, but that's just my opinion based on essentially prejudice, not a fact
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there's a big universe of solutions between getting nothing versus getting an AI 'educational' software that could do more harm than good.
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Pie in the sky ideas that ignore the huge collective action problems, like “provide more education funding”.
Won't somebody think of the poor people's kids?!
Seriously though, it's great they're going to donate all this compute & tokens to the poor (who by definition can't afford to pay for it).
We could encourage parents to take an active role in tutoring their kids but I guess that's just entirely out of the question?
Nah. Let's have AI do it
Yeah tell them to change things.. why didn't we think of that? Provide opportunities to make parenting less stressful like here so that they can involve more.. this reflexive anti AI luddite attitude isn't productive as it's just less signal and more noise..
A reflexive anti-AI Luddite attitude is the healthy default until there is overwhelming evidence otherwise.
We should be wary of all new technology until it’s proven to be a benefit to society.
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It's not reflexive, I've spent a lot of time and effort considering why I think AI is bad for society.
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"reflexive anti AI luddite attitude"
That's awfully reductive there, champ. Most critiques of AI are based on some combination of observed failings of the technology, observed failings of the tech industry writ large, and healthy skepticism in the face of Yet Another Tech Industry Hype Typhoon. Anyway, the burden of proof isn't on skeptics, it's on the technology and it's proponents, so let's see some receipts before we agree to squander limited public resources on unproven systems yeah?
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