🙋‍♂️ Sourcing facts, Google’s Learn About, and more – Of bits and bytes for November 18, 2024
Internet Travels
Of bits and bytes is my weekly round up of interesting links and ideas I discovered on the internet. It is published on Mondays for the previous week
Fascinating dive into facts we take for granted
Have you heard the “fact” that the human body has 100,000K of blood vessels? It has been posted and used in papers for years, but what is the source? And more importantly, is it accurate? Spoiler alert, it’s not.
Kurzgesagt dug into it with a fascinating video on how they tracked the original source. It’s a roller coaster of a trip, and a great look into the downside of taking facts for granted.
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Apps
Google has rolled out a new AI tool called Learn About designed to provide answers that are more than just text, featuring visual elements and textbook-style educational formats. Unlike its chatbot siblings Gemini and ChatGPT, Learn About focuses on engaging users with interactive and educational content, such as diagrams, vocabulary builders, and contextual boxes, rather than just supplying straightforward facts.
Google has rolled out Google Vids, an AI-powered video creation app designed to help you create videos within your organization. The tool can be used to provide a touch of cinematic flair to school events, project narratives, or student-driven documentaries.
Pedagogy
A recent study reveals that prolonged mental exhaustion can lead to poor decision making skills and aggression. Researchers found that our brains can mimic sleep patterns while we’re awake, making us crankier and less cooperative.
Technology
Australia is looking at banning social media for anyone under 16. The government, led by the prime minister, proposes a blanket ban—no exceptions for those already scrolling away or those with parental consent.
Tips
Sabrina Ortiz shares five setting tweaks to improve ChatGPT. Custom Instructions save time by providing personalized directives for each session. The Memory feature enhances interactions by retaining user information, but it can be turned off for privacy. Temporary Chat ensures conversations remain private by not saving history, and turning off Model Improvement prevents user data from being used for training, enhancing privacy further.
Another new prompting technique is “Logic-of-Thought”. Logic-of-Thought instructs AI to meticulously progress through problems using logic in a step-by-step manner, ensuring more insightful and reliable answers.
Potpourri
John Schinker reflects on the purpose of government, emphasizing that it’s meant to secure rights like Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. He discusses the aspirational goals of forming a more perfect Union, establishing justice, and promoting general welfare, underscoring that the government should protect citizens’ rights without overreach. John connects these themes to education, emphasizing the need to foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills amid a challenging information landscape.
Chegg, once a giant in textbook rentals and homework help, is facing a drastic decline. Since 2021 its stock has plummeted 99% from its peak, largely due to the rise of ChatGPT. With half a million fewer paid subscribers and continuous revenue drops, the company struggles to maintain its foothold. ChatGPT’s ability to provide instant answers for free is a major draw for students, who are increasingly choosing it over Chegg.
Thank you!
Major props if you’ve made it this far, you are a rockstar! Feel free to contact me with questions, ideas, concerns, or your thoughts on the next Marvel movie. In fact, I love to discuss about any topic and then wonder how it intersects with education, so fire away!
“Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, but Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” – Oogway, Kung Fu Panda
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