As the Mind Boggles: ChatGPT

 I have yet to be completely accepting of the whole concept of ChatGPT being used in the classroom. The very idea that an algorithm of sorts can answer open ended questions for students much less write entire paragraphs or even essays for me is still mind boggling. How are we to instill and build our student's critical thinking skills when they can get answers to what we know to be though provoking questions by asking a "bot". The whole idea of Artificial Intelligence slowly creeping and becoming something we are starting to become dependant on can be a scary thought.

In education, it is an ongoing conversation and many find this to be a good thing. Apparently, AI is also opening more doors. "Experts" on the matter are emerging everywhere, however the true potential of AI in the world is still an ongoing process. In respect to the "experts", I feel it has become more of a sharing of strategies and adapting to its use in education. 

Despite how quickly this AI tool has been emerging, it is still something that many schools and educators question and challenge as a whole. Many mostly due to the lack of information or mindsets in regard to the learning processes. It is so easy to say that "students will lose the value being to think on their own", but can also be because of the fact that many simply just do not understand this new technology, therefore it must be something bad and thus choosing to ignore its existence altogether. 

The fact of the matter is, that this technology does exist and it will continue to impact how our students learn today and in the future to come. So now we must ask ourselves, is our focus for our students to become great learners or become good at school? 

ChatGPT is a tool that can open up doors for many opportunities for learning and growth, but we as educators have to also learn them ourselves to see its true potential and what this type of technology can do for learning in education as a whole. 

Alot of the time, because we believe it, we hold ourselves on a pedestal and sometimes we skip to the "teaching" without doing the actual "learning". In a sense we focus more on teaching ourselves how to use the new AI tool and its impacts on learning, versus learning how it may be beneficial in connection to the content we teach. 

I think ultimately what I have come to learn on a personal level is that the use of ChatGPT has allowed me to become better at asking questions. And I feel like that in itself is an accomplishment. As a learner we gain more wisdom as we question and investigate things further. In my use of ChatGPT I found that in order to get the answer I am seeking, I must also ask the right questions, therefore making be better at asking questions. 

As my thoughts lingered on this experience, I am reminded about a video shared by another famous blogger, George Couros. He shared the video below which outlines some of the very common questions asked regarding ChatGPT. 

1. What is AI/ChatGPT? 
2. What is the impact of AI and ChatGPT? 
3. How can you make money from ChatGPT and AI? 
4. What are the shortcomings of AI? 
5. Is this just a fad? 

In connection with this video, George Couros developed essentially 4 questions that we as educators should discuss. 

1. What are some of the negatives and positives of ChatGPT?
2. What are some wast that ChatGPT can be used in out everyday lives? 
3. How can we use ChatGPT in our current roles to make our lives easier and improve learning? 
4. How can we help students utilize ChatGPT for thie learning in and outside of school?