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What is AI?

 Presented with the term, artificial intelligence, I wonder if most people conjure a vision of AI as I do, with this visual influenced by some sci-fi movie.  I immediately think of the 2001 movie,  A. I. Artificial Intelligence and the character that Haley Joel Osment, a movie that always left me feeling sad because the A. I. boy is trying to find his true nature after not being able to exist in either the cyber or real world due to circumstances. Such emotions and forlorn expressions on that face throughout the movie.  It reminds me a lot of the plot line in Klara and the Sun and that possibility that Klara might replace the ailing Josie.

According to Wikipedia, A.I. is simply defined as intelligence demonstrated by machines, as opposed to the natural intelligence displayed by animals including humans.

I found Dobrov's (2004) definition more effective in that it describes the genesis and power of the machine's intelligence based on three assumptions:

1. Every calculating device can be modelled by a program. A.I. is a program.

2. AI is a step device and on every step it inputs from outside a portion of information  and outputs a portion of information.

3.  AI is in some environment which gives it a portion of information on every step and which receives the output of AI. Also we assume that the environment will be influenced of the information which AI outputs. This environment can be natural or artificial and we will refer to it as “world”. (Dobrov, 2004, p. 2). 

With these assumptions, Dobrov defined, "AI will be such a program which in an arbitrary world will cope not worse than a human" (p. 2).  

Concepts such as machine learning and deep learning are associated with AI.  These are distinct (Copeland, 2016) in that AI is the overarching concept that gave birth to subsequent concepts:

AI consistently has been on the list of the top Ed Tech Trends in K12 for over a decade. 

But how is it being used in Education?

Here are 7 ways from Harper (2021):
Task Automation

Personalized Learning

Universal Access

Smart Content Creation

Teaching the Teacher

Identify Classroom Weakness

24/7 Assistance

These are all great! But notice that these are all teacher-centered uses.

The examples are few and far between. Here is a recent study on how kid's use AI in the classroom, specifically, their interactions with Smart Speakers.

Another recent example of AI that is related to Deep Learning and Deep Fake was a segment that aired on 60 minutes and repeated last Sunday (7/31).  

Yes, there's some scary stuff presented in this segment but we all know from EDIT 781 that whenever a new innovation or technology appears, humans are going to find both good and bad ways to use it.  There is a great new tool developing called Synthesia, an AI Video Generation platform.  The company uses it's AI technology to create real-people avatars and with your script and a recording of your voice, they can generate a very professional video for you without you appearing.  The best part if you want to change your script, you do not have to rerecord. Synthesia can simply replace that section using their advanced technology. This deserves a serious look for those who create content!

I have a doctoral student who is testing it out as part of her research!

What ideas have you seen or experienced that showcase students using AI for learning?

Lastest news regarding AI, robots

 I found it fascinating that the author of Klara and the Sun selected Artificial Friend (AF) as the term used to refer to the artificial intelligent robots in the story, particularly given the news I heard today.  A chess robot went rogue and injured a child's finger when the child made his move too quick, without waiting for the necessary time for the robot to respond, according to Russian authorities (breaking a rule of the game).  

This news item gives an opportunity to consider one of the blog prompts provided for our EDIT 787: What would the author say about the tool associated with the book?  In this case, what might Ishiguro say about the use of artificial intelligence in our daily lives?  First, he might say, that chess robot certainly does not fit the description of Klara, who is designed to be a supportive friend! 

The chess robot broke more than just the boy's finger.  It acted in conflict with the Asimov's Three Laws of Robots:

First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Of course, Asimov's rules are fictitious but the incident reported yesterday is a real life situation that we previously only considered in movies such as The Terminator. 

In Klara the machine, human consciousness was replicated. This chess robot was not acting upon any sort of consciousness but rather just a set of programmed rules.  Officials of the tournament stated, "The robot's operators, apparently will have to think about strengthening protection so that such a situation does not happen again." 

Ishiguro's novel highlights the importance of choice and responsibility when Josie is permitted by her mother to select the AF of her choice and takes on the responsibilities of friendship with her selected AI, Klara.  In the chess robot incident, I wondered how much information the child had about responsibility when taking on the challenge of playing against the robot.  Perhaps the operators did not know this incident could happen but they should have!  It reminds me of what happens in education when initiatives are rolled out without a comprehensive analysis of consequences or even lack of ability teachers have to discuss consequences with students. 

Klara and the Sun: A reader's review

 Dystopian science fiction is typically not a genre I select as "leisure" reading material.  I tend to select this genre specifically to gain a different perspective of education and technology (translate that to mean, to inform my professional practice).  I must say, I did enjoy reading this book in my leisure. The fact that I  refrained from any notetaking when I designate a book as one for work, was a sure sign that I just might be reading for fun.  

Ishiguro's (2021) Klara and the Sun is a story about a solar-powered Artificial Friend (AF), who patiently waits day in and day out to be selected by her person.  AFs exist to serve young people/teens to alleviate loneliness.  I will not elaborate further so as not to give away any surprises....which develop over time and quite slowly in this book.  The story is told from the perspective of Klara so the reader is at times left guessing when she shares interpretations and insights. There are strange terms and situations to decipher and translate to familiar objects and things.  As the Manager constantly notes with awe, Klara is remarkable with unusual insights and observational skills.  This is somewhat of a surprise given she is not the latest generation of AFs but it also caused me to ponder the way we view older technologies vs newer technologies.

As I read the first section of the book, I was reminded of Don Freeman's Corduroy.  Later, when I read Wood's (2021) review, I was thrilled that he too mentioned a Corduroy connection.

This novel narrows the theme of What it means to be human that is found in other novels such as Asimov's (1990) The Bicentennial Man.  A main theme of Klara and the Sun focuses on What it means to love and the ever-changing complexity of love. I found Chapman's (1992) work on love languages to be particularly helpful in categorizing the different facets of love in this book. There is definitely a class system within this world (presumably the US) as Ishiguro presents a variety of reactions and behaviors toward machines, housekeepers, and the haves and have-nots.  There are subthemes related to faith vs rationality and hope vs despair (from the AF perspective), bullying, prejudice, loneliness, the circle of life, and even waste and pollution.  

What struck me about this book is that the scenario presented is purely plausible, which brings me to connections to education and the Designing Digital Learning in Schools specialization. Regarding technology, the novel addresses the direction of innovation, machine learning, the possibility of machines replacing humans, and ethics in technology innovations, specifically, the question of where do ethics come into play-- at the invention stage or implementation? Can the inventor offload ethics to the legislators who use regulations to dictate ethics? 

There's a scene in the book when Josie, the teen who selects Klara and her friend, Ricky, play a game in which she draws images with speech bubbles, and he fills in the speech bubbles with text.  This is very much like the activity we did in EDIT 782: Designing for Literacy, with the cartoons, combining two symbol systems and moving between image to text and text to image.  Teens in the book are learning virtually and using online resources to learn advanced skills.  However, there is acknowledgement that an expert is still needed to situate learning in the culture of use. 

There is a huge question raised in the book related to equity in schools, what it means to succeed, and even, the lengths parents will go to help their children....sound familiar? (Also see a connection to Lee's (2021) book, Who Gets to Be Smart: Privilege, Power, and Knowledge. 

The use of Klara in the life of Josie had little to do with Josie's learning of essential content knowledge, but more about her social, emotional, and physical growth.  It made me wonder about the place of machine learning in education and if there could be uses other than tracking progress and personalized learning. I am reminded of McDonald's (2011) Creative Spirit of Design which advocates for students to be the designer of these environments.

DDLS Book Club 2022 Member

For the past few years, I have included a Designing Digital Learning in Schools Summer Book Club/Blog activity in EDIT 787: Teacher Leadership and Advocacy for Digital Learning.  This activity was selected because  (1) the role of "teacher leader of digital learning," is strengthened by knowledge about the trends in educational technology, (2) there are so many trade books focused on technology topics published each year (not only in the field of education but in other fields as well) that it is impossible for any advanced graduate program to include in the course of a two-year program, (3) opportunities to express one's understanding of these topics and implications for education develops essential advocacy skills, and (4) a book club in this program supports the development of a community of practice.

Something I have not done in this activity is participate as a book club member.  That will change this year as I have selected a book to read, blog about, respond to blog comments, and find ways that this book club selection impacts my beliefs and teaching practice.  

The book I have selected is Klara and the Sun by Kazou Ishiguro.  Ishiguro is previously known for The Remains of the Day, which was adapted into a movie in 1993. I was drawn to this book partially because of Ishiguro's reputation, it's designation as a New York Times bestseller, and it's main character, Klara, an Artificial Friend. More importantly, I was captured by the NPR blurb, "A masterpiece that will make you think about life, mortality, and the saving grace of love." Most books I have read with Artificial Intelligence (AI) themes have centered on what it means to be human, alive, or conscious (e.g., The Most Human Human, Machines Like Me).  This book takes it to the specific emotional level of love. 

My goal is to find connections to education and my teaching practice.  Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality software has been found on annual K12 educational technology trend lists for decades. Yet, early or routine use of these tools has not yet been realized. Also, in Spring 2023, I will be teaching a doctoral course, EDIT 895: Emerging Trends in Learning Technologies. It's a good time to look at this technology differently.

EDIT 760 Module 2 edition: Whatever it is, this is not Online Learning.

This post was originally written in Fall 2020 as most P12 schools remained closed during the pandemic.  Updates were made on August 26, 2022 to reflect the current situation in schools while reflecting on the past.

This week in EDIT 760, we tackle the question, "What is the Online Learning Movement?"  Never before has that question been so relevant and important than today as we continue to face the challenges of teaching and learning during a pandemic.  Our goal in EDIT 760 is to develop your understanding of online learning, but also, we need to make some sense out of what is currently happening in schools due to Covid-19. 

There was a lot of debate in the beginning months of school closure (March 2020) about what to call this Covid-19 learning.   Early news reports from here and around the world focused on online learning. While I wasn't sure what to call it, I knew from being an online designer and teacher, whatever was actually happening in school divisions was not, could not be, online learning.  

One of my favorite opinions on the topic came early on from two University of Georgia professors who stated, "What we're doing today is teaching and learning to be in Covid-19... . This is not business as usual and it is unethical to act as if it could be." Gosh, I wish I had written that! 

Five months later, there were still references and news reports describing the return to school in Fall 2020 as online learning. To designate those Fall openings amid Covid-19 as online learning, dilutes the practice and everything many educators and researchers have worked toward to elevate alternative environments and showcase affordances. 

The progress made to promote online learning as a viable learning option is at risk.  

If you look up the definition of online learning, you will get many possibilities (I know! This is how I spent much of 2008 as I was formulating my dissertation).  The definition that continues to be most complete to me came from my colleagues, Dabbagh and Bannan-Ritland (2005):

 

Online learning is an open and distributed learning environment that uses pedagogical tools, enabled by Internet and Web-based technologies, to facilitate learning and knowledge building through [*]meaningful action and interaction. (p. 15)

To me, this definition makes the complexities of online learning explicit and visible.  Moving content, pedagogy, technologies, and interactions from in-person learning to online learning requires reimagining content, pedagogy, technologies, and interactions.  Reimagining takes time and skill.  

No wonder educators have felt overwhelmed and stressed since March! There has not been time to reimagine.

You are in a unique position as teacher-learners in EDIT 760.  Module 2 focuses on The Online Learning Movement in K12 schools. Most K12 teachers started the 2020 school year in virtual environments as a result of this pandemic. The present situation is very instructive as you have the opportunity to compare what the literature says about online learning and what had happened 

in schools. As you read this week's resources on online learning in Module 2,  consider the following:

How do you characterize the type of teaching you did during the pandemic?  How would you characterize the type of learning your students did during the pandemic?  How does this compare to what you are reading in Module 2? 

(News articles or even research that supports your understanding would be great links and additions to your Module 2 Blog).

 

How did you feel about teaching and learning as you began the school year in Fall 2020 and Fall 2021? What are the message and expectations you are heard from school leaders and what are the message and expectations you wanted to hear?

 

You might even consider using the above questions to guide your Module 2 Blog Reflection (suggestion only).

*What is meaningful action? Hopefully you will figure this out in this course and other LTS courses (particularly EDIT 762). I'm happy to discuss further with you.

Reference:

Dabbagh, N., & Bannan-Ritland, B. (2005). Online learning: Concepts, strategies, and application. Pearson Education, Inc.