The Perna Syndicate - Motivation & Careers

825-Allowing AI in the Classroom

Episode: 825 Episode Title: Allowing AI in the Classroom  Educators have a valuable chance to help young people use AI tools while boosting their learning along the way. Here’s what I mean by this, next on The Perna Syndicate.   Ep 825 show: This is The Perna Syndicate, and I’m glad you are here! As we continue our conversation about AI, I wanted to share a couple ways educators can leverage their influence with students as they use this rising technology.   The first is to be clear about expectations around AI. On the first day of class, there should be no question about how AI should and shouldn’t be used to complete assignments. Part of this is teaching students how to cite AI. The temptation to plagiarize can be lessened if students know to include AI as a source if it’s used in their work.   Another strategy is to focus on quality over quantity. It’s more important to produce a really compelling essay of five pages than to turn in a 10-page paper padded out with filler. In light of how easy AI can make it to include all that fluff, maybe we reconsider length requirements and instead focus on the technical merits of the work.   And lastly, we should create moments where students must show their work on the spot and demonstrate they understand the process.    I believe educators are our best hope of making AI tools an aid to learning, rather than a replacement for it. Students who use AI can and should be held to a different standard. It’s up to us to help them perform at a higher level, both today in their education and, someday, in their future careers.   Thank you for tuning in to The Perna Syndicate this week! I’m your host Mark Perna, and I look forward to seeing you back here next week for more on the classroom and workforce of the future. Take care!      The post 825-Allowing AI in the Classroom [https://markcperna.com/825-allowing-ai-in-the-classroom/] appeared first on Mark C. Perna [https://markcperna.com].

824-Limitations of AI

Episode: 824 Episode Title: Limitations of AI How far should we trust AI-generated content? Not as far as you might think. Here’s a cautionary tale, coming up next on The Perna Syndicate.   Ep 824 show: Hello and welcome to The Perna Syndicate today! While it may feel like AI can do anything and everything for us, it can’t. AI can only generate content based on existing content; it cannot make ethical judgments, or ‘create’ anything in the purest sense of the word. It can only generate based on what is already out there.   Not to mention that sometimes, AI “hallucinates” and makes up fake sources to generate content—which can be a real issue. Two lawyers in Manhattan, New York recently learned this the hard way when they used AI to search for cases that set a precedent they were looking for. AI literally made up its own cases and presented them as true. The lawyers took the supposed findings at face value, without digging any deeper, and today they’re in a heap of trouble for it.    The point is, you still need a human to understand what’s real and what isn’t. AI just can’t do it.   I believe that in the near future, we will come up against the limits of AI. And it will remind us that no matter how shiny and impressive the technology is, it can never replace the human factor. We will always have something AI doesn’t.    This is a prime teaching moment for students who may think AI is the shortcut that eliminates all their effort. It doesn’t—but it will redirect where that effort is expended.   Thank you for tuning in to The Perna Syndicate today! Tomorrow we will discuss different ways that educators can use AI to their advantage in their classrooms. With this, students will be better equipped for their educational and professional journey. I will see you then!   The post 824-Limitations of AI [https://markcperna.com/824-limitations-of-ai/] appeared first on Mark C. Perna [https://markcperna.com].

823-No AI? You’re Behind

Episode: 823 Episode Title: No AI? You’re Behind If educators don’t embrace the power of AI in the classroom, students are going to find themselves behind. Here’s why, next on The Perna Syndicate.   Ep 823 show: You’re now in The Perna Syndicate—welcome! One of the roles of education is to prepare the student for a successful future. But an education devoid of any training in current technology will fail to do that.   When young people enter the workforce, it will be assumed that they know how to use AI effectively. In fact, new skills like “prompt engineering” will be in high demand by the time these students hit the workforce.    We do students no favors by trying to pretend AI-generated content doesn’t exist. If they can’t use it by the time they launch their careers, they are already behind. The world will not stop developing or turn away new technology. We need to adjust to a new way of learning.    That’s why equitable access to tools like ChatGPT, GrammarlyGO, and others is so vital. If AI is not going away, we need to equip young people of all backgrounds and walks of life to use it well in their future careers.   We should never try to turn young people away from learning how to use new tech. AI-generated content is far from perfect, and still requires significant skill to produce the desired result.    And that’s all the more reason that using AI effectively is a new skill set that should be embraced, not feared.    Tomorrow on The Perna Syndicate, we’ll be talking about the limitations of AI and why the human component is still absolutely vital. I will see you then!  The post 823-No AI? You’re Behind [https://markcperna.com/823-no-ai-youre-behind/] appeared first on Mark C. Perna [https://markcperna.com].

822-AI: Tool and Teacher

Episode: 822 Episode Title: AI: Tool and Teacher   If technology can do something for you, why do you need to learn how to do it? The rise of AI is making this an important question—next on The Perna Syndicate.   Ep 822 show: Welcome back to The Perna Syndicate and thanks for being here! I think we would all agree that while calculators have a role in higher-level math, they do not teach that math. Calculators cannot tell us how or why an answer is correct; they simply provide it. Does that mean we stop using them in higher-level math courses? No.   The same argument could be made for the spreadsheet. If you really consider what it can do, it’s an amazing piece of software and a valuable tool. But it’s how it’s deployed that makes it useful.    Both the calculator and spreadsheet are tools that increase efficiency, but we must first understand what we need them to do before we can use them effectively. We still have to problem-solve.   Are AI content generators all that different? To use AI to write an effective essay, the student must know the point they want to make and why it matters. Then, once the initial content is generated, they must verify the sources, correct any errors, and produce a human-checked piece of work to hand in.    I don’t know about you, but to me that still sounds like significant work on the student’s part—with a lot of learning happening along the way.   Similarly, students who use AI to solve a math problem won’t just get the answer. They will be shown every bit of the work, with reasons and explanations at every step. In essence, it teaches you HOW to get the answer—and isn’t that what we want students to learn?     Thank you for tuning in today! Tomorrow on The Perna Syndicate, join me for a discussion on how AI is essential for the careers of future generations. Until then, take care!  The post 822-AI: Tool and Teacher [https://markcperna.com/822-ai-tool-and-teacher/] appeared first on Mark C. Perna [https://markcperna.com].

821-AI in Education

Episode: 821 Episode Title: AI in Education   Are AI content generators the end of our ability to think and write—or a tool to take these skills further? Let’s talk about it, next on The Perna Syndicate.   Ep 821 show: Welcome to a new week on The Perna Syndicate! I’m your host Mark Perna, and today we’re going to talk about something every industry and individual is going to have to deal with in the near future: artificial intelligence.    AI-generated content, produced with tools like ChatGPT, GrammarlyGO, and a host of others, is here. And it’s not going away. (Though for the record, it was not used to write this episode.)   Content generated by AI is a hot-button topic, especially in the realm of education. In the workplace there appears to be a cautious welcome for it. It can increase efficiency, analyze information, and make data usable again.    But education is tasked not with merely getting things done efficiently, but with teaching skills like critical thinking, research, and composition, to name a few. Many people worry that AI will eventually devalue these skills by doing the hard work for the student.   These are legitimate concerns, but there’s also a case for leaning into AI rather than banning it. Because, of course, it won’t be banned.    Practically speaking, we will not be able to prevent young people from using AI to write their book reports, do their math homework, and generate all kinds of content—including the resumes and cover letters they will use to land their first job.   So how do we navigate this swift wave of technological change? We will be covering that and more this week on The Perna Syndicate. Thank you as always for tuning in, and I’ll see you back here tomorrow for more. Take care! The post 821-AI in Education [https://markcperna.com/821-ai-in-education/] appeared first on Mark C. Perna [https://markcperna.com].