A writer for The Guardian warns that artificial intelligence will be taking over many jobs that we previously assumed were safe from automation. Like teaching.
We’re still in the dark ages of what artificial intelligence will be able to do. Sure, we have AlphaGo being able to make “beautiful” moves in the game of Go, and IBM’s Watson is a Jeopardy champ, but they are just the beginning.
Computers and AI will replace teachers, and it will be teaching. Picture the best teacher you know. One that is empathetic and kind, but can also set boundaries when needed. The teacher that knows exactly what questions to ask. What if you could replicate that teacher and give every student 1 on 1 access to the best teacher? That’s what’s going to happen, and it is scary.
When I saw Google Classroom for the first time, my immediate thought was, “This is clearly an under-funded product that ranks fairly low on the list of Google’s priorities.” Our kids use the iPad version and, setting aside the inconvenient fact that it’s at least a few steps behind Google Classroom in the browser, the…
I hear this concern often from the parents of many of my patients. They routinely remark that their sons do just enough to keep the adults off their backs, while their daughters relentlessly grind, determined to leave no room for error. The girls don’t stop until they’ve polished each assignment to a high shine and…
Pediatricians, psychologists, and neuroscientists warn of potential negative consequences associated with constant mental stimulation as a result of interacting with our devices. Without a screen-free space for my brain to relax, stop firing, and just think, I felt incapable of significant mental processing. I could blame the technology for thwarting my attempts at creative thought,…
The latest update to Google Chrome on iOS has added a QR code reader. Instead of downloading auxiliary apps to read a QR code, Google Chrome can now read it directly. To make it handier for users, the QR code reading function is accessible from a 3D touch, or by using spotlight and search for qr…
A friendly robot greets me on Facebook. He’s dressed like a doctor, stethoscope and all, here to do a security checkup. So for the next 5 to 10 seconds, I wait as he pokes and prods my account. “He’s really taking good care of me!” I think, when I start to wonder: Are Facebook’s servers…
I often hear people ask, “If we have the internet, why do we still need librarians?” This is something I’ve heard since the days of dial-up and continue to hear right now. It misses the vital role that librarians play in our students’ lives. It’s true that the information landscape has changed. It is easier…
