Can’t read the article so idk if that’s the intention but Ai literacy needs to be taught at some point and a beurocratic ban wouldn’t let teachers include it in their curriculum
I definitely agree with this, tech literacy should absolutely be taught. I view this as similar to how elementary aged children aren’t allowed to use calculators in math, because it’s actually pretty important that you learn to do the basics. But the reality is that AI is being used in all sorts of professional environments in very productive ways now, and it will be important to learn how to utilize it skillfully and ethically.
But the reality is that AI is being used in all sorts of professional environments in very productive ways now,
The reality is that that claim is anecdotal at best as there is no way to quantify the productivity of LLM use.
Productivity is value generated per unit of cost. You cannot reliably predict the token use of successfully completing any given task or even reproduce the same token use for running the same task again later. If you cannot quantify the cost you cannot quantify productivity.
Yes, my information is anecdotal, but that’s no reason to dismiss it out of hand. I personally know attorneys, physicians, and software engineers for whom AI has become an integral tool in their work. These are all super competent people who understand how to use it and never rely on it for a final draft. That it’s increased their productivity individually is frankly undeniable. It sounds like you’re talking about expecting AI to spit out a reliable final product, which is absolutely not what it should be used for
New York City Public Schools, the largest school system in the country, has banned student-facing generative artificial intelligence tools in classrooms through eighth grade for this school year, adopting one of the most aggressive AI policies in the nation.
The moratorium follows intense pressure from parents and other advocates, who urged New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) to enact a two-year ban on AI in classrooms.
It also comes amid a more widespread backlash to technology that has spurred screen-time limits in dozens of school systems, including Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest public school district. Last year, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) banned cellphones from the state’s public schools, following similar actions in dozens of other states.
Mamdani’s plan calls for a one-year pause that he said can be extended or amended, depending on how the first year goes.
“This moratorium is a commitment to getting the future right,” Mamdani said during a news conference Wednesday morning. “Kids need to learn to think for themselves, they need to work alongside their peers, they need to learn how to ask better questions, and they need to learn what it feels like to not know the answer.”
The new policy also seeks to tighten screen-time limits for the youngest learners in the school district. The city is recommending 30-minute screen-time limits for students in third to fifth grade and 45 minutes for sixth to eighth grades.
Mamdani said the city will also disable AI components in more than 38 technology platforms that students have previously used. If AI capabilities cannot be removed from a program, the school district will stop using it.
Meanwhile, for older students, the city will pilot five “rigorously vetted” educational AI programs in some high schools, and introduce two 45-minute AI literacy modules designed to teach teens about AI-related bias, risks and ethical considerations.
Can’t read the article so idk if that’s the intention but Ai literacy needs to be taught at some point and a beurocratic ban wouldn’t let teachers include it in their curriculum
Man, we can’t even teach basic media literacy
I definitely agree with this, tech literacy should absolutely be taught. I view this as similar to how elementary aged children aren’t allowed to use calculators in math, because it’s actually pretty important that you learn to do the basics. But the reality is that AI is being used in all sorts of professional environments in very productive ways now, and it will be important to learn how to utilize it skillfully and ethically.
The reality is that that claim is anecdotal at best as there is no way to quantify the productivity of LLM use.
Productivity is value generated per unit of cost. You cannot reliably predict the token use of successfully completing any given task or even reproduce the same token use for running the same task again later. If you cannot quantify the cost you cannot quantify productivity.
Yes, my information is anecdotal, but that’s no reason to dismiss it out of hand. I personally know attorneys, physicians, and software engineers for whom AI has become an integral tool in their work. These are all super competent people who understand how to use it and never rely on it for a final draft. That it’s increased their productivity individually is frankly undeniable. It sounds like you’re talking about expecting AI to spit out a reliable final product, which is absolutely not what it should be used for
The article link works (it’s an archive.today link, not the WashPost site itself)
It doesn’t load for me, maybe I’m geoblocked
Ty for that
“educational ai programs” doesn’t sound great to me, but i guess that’s why they’re pilot testing it