We continue to hear concerns about Artificial Intelligence, especially ChatGPT, nearly every day.

As the link in the previous paragraph will take you to my second post about ChatGPT, this must be the third, and I really don’t want to add to the noise. So I will start by commenting about something entirely different—well, slightly different—namely Feedly’s AI engine, Leo. I use Feedly as my newsreader/blogreader, and I mostly recommend it. Recently Leo has begun to automatically classify posts using its (its? his? what are Leo’s pronouns?) own mysterious algorithm, and it/he solicits user feedback as a self-improvement technique. Often the classifications are correct. Sometimes, however, we get bloopers like Leo’s analysis of an article containing the sentence “The rightwing provocateur James O’Keefe may face the music tomorrow.” According to the analysis:

Leo was 69% confident this article was about Music.

Oh, well.

Finally, I can’t resist returning to ChatGPT. With no further context or information, I asked it to “write a sonnet about the Crimson Summer Academy in Cambridge, Massachusetts.” And here was its response, followed by its self-reflection:

Amidst the halls of learning, in the town
Of Cambridge, stands the Crimson Summer school,
A place where students gather from around
To learn, to grow, and to be truly cool.

With teachers who are passionate and kind,
And lessons that are both challenging and fun,
They strive to open students’ hearts and mind
And help them reach for stars that shine like sun.

The classrooms echo with debate and thought,
And laughter, as new ideas take flight,
The halls are filled with students who have brought
Their talents, and inspire with their might.

But it’s not just the knowledge that they gain,
It’s the friendships, that forever will remain.

A sonnet is a 14-lines poem that typically follows a specific rhyme scheme (abab cdcd efef gg) and a strict meter. This sonnet describes the Crimson Summer Academy as a place where students come to learn, grow, and be challenged academically, while also building friendships. The Academy is depicted as a place that is both challenging and supportive, where students are encouraged to think critically and be creative. The poem ends with the idea that the friendships made at the Academy will last forever.

So, what grade(s) would you assign these two efforts? Are you worried?

Categories: Teaching & Learning, Technology