Summary: This article offers parents an overview of the pros and cons of chatbots used in education, providing readers with family-friendly conversation pointers and prompt ideas. The following was inspired by a focus group with My Digital TAT2’s high school interns and the latest research findings about emerging chatbots.
In today’s K-12 classrooms, terms like “artificial intelligence (AI)” and its more advanced sibling, “generative artificial intelligence (GenAI),” are no longer just tech jargon but integral parts of children’s learning landscape.
GenAI-backed chatbots are rapidly maturing, leaving some high school teachers wondering if youth educators are obsolete. GenAI chatbots’ growth questions traditional teaching methods, academic integrity, and critical thinking. By discussing GenAI with your child, you enrich their education while grounding them in your family’s values on technology use.
A high school intern from a Silicon Valley nonprofit, My Digital TAT2 (MDT2), revealed a divide among their teachers who disagree about GenAI’s role in education. While teachers across the country are divided about GenAI’s seat in their classrooms, this article aims to equip parents with conversational ideas to guide children through the maze of GenAI while championing critical thinking. It’s vital to lead conversations about responsible tech use, especially when sometimes our kids may know more than we do.
Understanding the Basics
After launching in November 2022, ChatGPT, a GenAI chatbot from OpenAI, became the fastest-growing consumer application, gaining over 100 million monthly active users in two months. For reference, it took Instagram over two years to reach that many monthly active users. Its success spurred many companies to integrate chatbots into their products.
This technology produces dialogue-based responses when given prompts. Think of a prompt as akin to typing a query into Google; however, ChatGPT offers a direct, conversational answer instead of a list of websites.
ChatGPT is a tool that can offer explanations on academic topics, homework aid, and a creative ideas generator. Its adaptability means it can act as something akin to a tutor. However, if ChatGPT has accurate enough reasoning capabilities to outperform the average student taking the Bar Exam, it certainly can complete a high schooler’s homework on their behalf. Leveraging chatbots offers students an educational edge, but parents and educators must encourage youths to use such technologies to enhance learning, not just mindlessly complete tasks.
Most of MDT2’s 16 high school summer interns turn to ChatGPT for tasks ranging from debugging to overcoming writer’s block. While a minority abstained from chatbot use, with only a hint of data privacy worries from one student, a broader trend emerged.
MDT2’s high school interns mirror trends in the broader American youth population. Education Weekly reveals that half of the students between ages 12 to 18 use ChatGPT for school, yet only a quarter of parents believe their kids do so. This disparity underscores the urgent need for parents to actively engage with their kids in today’s digital landscape, unlocking richer and more meaningful educational experiences.
ChatGPT’s Limitations
Before maximizing the potential of ChatGPT or any chatbot, it’s crucial to understand its constraints and apply them with discernment. While chatbots readily provide detailed responses, users often can’t see the source of the information. ChatGPT and other chatbots generate conversational-like answers because their models are trained with data from publicly available online text, including books, scientific journals, and news articles. Chatbots are translucent mirrors reflecting years of knowledge and opinions circulating online, including cultural biases and factually incorrect assumptions.
“Parents need to explain their restrictions and boundaries otherwise, their child will access the content behind their backs.” — MDT2 high school summer intern, 2023
Crash Course: Pitfalls of Chatbots
Plagiarism Risk
Cultural Bias
Accuracy Variance
Lacks Intuition
With new tech comes new challenges; based on a focus group with MDT2’s high school interns, here are some current understandings. Plagiarism risk means that while ChatGPT can be a valuable reference, parents must always encourage the development of critical thinking skills through originality. The cultural bias inherent in GenAI platforms means they lean towards generating conversational-like responses leaning towards Western norms. Continuing to teach cultural values to children involves guidance from trusted community adults for cultural inquiries rather than solely relying on the internet or chatbots. Additionally, the accuracy variance means that, while ChatGPT often does get technical information correct, it isn’t infallible. Fact-checking is a skill that should be fostered early.
Lastly, remind your child that any AI tool is just a developing machine that lacks intuition and never anthropomorphizes technology. At one point, the human brain was comically compared to a telephone switchboard, so don’t rush to compare us to today’s shiny new toy (although this “new toy” can compare and contrast Shakespearean novels in seconds). Despite these limitations, the convenience and appeal of chat platforms and other GenAI tools guarantee students will continue to use them in their learning journey.
Since chatbot technology is new, its limitations are constantly being redefined. But while chatbots’ pitfalls are being examined, new use cases continue to emerge. Some educators have started offloading their work to chatbots that can create quizzes for them in seconds. Given that professionals, including educators, utilize chatbots for productivity, it’s only natural for children to adopt these emerging tools.
Resources for Parents
In the whirlwind of parenting and professional life, staying updated on chatbots and their role in education can be daunting. MDT2’s focus groups with high schoolers have led to developing this list of ways parents can broach the topic of GenAI with their kids. Let these suggestions guide your conversations after recognizing your child’s readiness for new technologies.
“… discuss AI in a way that doesn’t instill fear.” – MDT2 high school summer intern, 2023
Aiding Academic Growth
There’s an ever-expanding list of AI tools that can help students with everything from transcribing audio into text to translating essays into different languages. Aware of these easily accessible use cases, several MDT2 high school summer interns express concerns that students will become “lazy” and lose “integrity” because of GenAI. Resonating with this prediction, one student said, “Instead of saying don’t use AI at all, teaching kids how to use it ethically is beneficial.”
Considering the broad spectrum of applications, it’s up to parents to decide when AI-assisted learning is a compliment or a crutch for their child. Based on your own values, consider adding or modifying the following prompt ideas for chatbots, such as ChatGPT.
Prompt Ideas for Students
All Subjects
Before asking a chatbot to help on any assignment, use this prompt:
You are about to help me with _#_ grade homework. Ask me five questions about my assignment, rubric, and goals. Ask me five questions one at a time.Using this prompt will set the chatbot in the best position to help students with their work while forcing them to reiterate their assignment’s purpose. Using chatbots as a mirror to reflect your work makes us better understand an assignment, similar to how annotating a rubric would.
2. Time Management
Use this prompt:
(copy and paste assignment instructions) Read the previous assignment instructions and suggest a structured breakdown of the assignment into short, manageable tasks or sections.If your child struggles to develop time management skills, a chatbot can help break down huge research assignments into smaller tasks for students to tackle individually.
Tip: Encourage your child to develop critical thinking skills by adjusting the generated roadmap to their learning preferences.
3. Standardized Testing: SAT and ACT
Use this prompt — Practice Questions:
I'm studying for (enter subject) for the (SAT or ACT). Generate ten practice questions on this specific topic. Show me one question at a time. After all ten questions are shown, give me a score and help me understand any incorrect answers.Use this prompt — Essay Writing:
I'm studying for the essay writing portion of the (SAT or ACT). Generate one essay writing question and give me feedback on the structure, coherence, grammar, and vocabulary used in my reply.SAT and ACT preparation can be costly. Investing in tutors and test prep books is not cheap, and not all schools offer preparatory guidance for these college entrance exams. Use a chatbot to help students prepare for various aspects of the SAT or ACT. If you can, a chatbot should still be complemented with official study materials approved by college boards.
Troubleshooting
Although chatbots are new, the concept of fact-checking hasn’t changed. Misinformation can influence opinions, decisions, and behaviors based on inaccuracies. In the same way we teach children to differentiate between fact and fiction in stories, they must be equipped to detect falsehood information they encounter online. Fostering a critical mindset ensures a child can make informed life choices in the classroom and beyond. Reflect on your fact-checking methods; passing those techniques to your child can strengthen their digital discernment.
Today’s Future Classrooms
As our classrooms pivot into unchartered territories, new technologies offer exciting learning avenues while emphasizing adults’ roles in ensuring balanced and responsible tech use.
Parents play a pivotal role in navigating this evolving landscape despite their busy schedules. Discussing technology with children is a two-way street; parents might pick up new techniques from their digitally-native kids, and youths can gain insights into their family’s values and understandings of responsibility. In these shared moments, families can explore technologies while reinforcing the bond of learning together.
**Note from the author:
Insights from a youth-centered focus group at My Digital TAT2 inspired this research article. Caitlyn Vergara, Associate Researcher, played an instrumental role in collating and presenting this information. As research on chatbots continues to evolve, this article represents our understanding up to the present moment.
MDT2 is dedicated to empowering students, families, and educators to understand technology and the profound impact of their online presence.
Comments