Week 7 of #8WeeksofSummer blogging challenge invites us to defend ourselves: “Sell It! What Teachers and Students can do that ChatGPT cannot!”

I know that you have used a Google/Bing/Edge search engine to find something. Is that AI? Yes. Google doesn’t bring back every answer on the web, instead, it uses a ranking system that goes beyond the words you type in the search parameters. If we use the Brittanica Encyclopedia’s definition of AI, any computer program that can sift data to the most usable is performing a human task. If Google can sift through data and interpret what we do not explicitly say in the search, then the program has done a human task. For example, if you search for a restaurant name, Google will take into account your location when handling the search, even though you did not type the name of the city. It made an interpretation.

ChatGPT can remember a conversation you had with it, allow you to modify a search, and deny inappropriate requests. (Don’t worry – humans are already wording their inquiries around the denials. [sigh]) But, there is a catch. ChatGPT can get it wrong. It can be biased. It can make up facts. And, it does not know much about the world since 2021 (Montti, 2023).

What can I, a high school librarian, do that ChatGPT doesn’t do? Quite a lot. I had a teacher show up with a couple of days’ notice. She wanted all of her students to find fictional books (currently on the shelves and not checked out) that dealt with a wide variety of issues in the world including climate change, human trafficking, and water pollution, to name a few. Can a current AI system produce a list specific to my library? What if the teacher’s list was not fully inclusive and other issues appeared when the students did? As most any librarian will tell you, this wasn’t the weirdest request I’ve ever received, and, hey! I got two days’ notice! Most of the students in four classes (120ish) managed to find a book using my book cart of suggestions or my help to find something.

ChatGPT can create a lesson plan on teaching research but it can’t deliver the lesson. It could connect students to a video or two or a website article but it’s not leading the discussion or the reflection. Holding pieces of candy in my hand (necessary for my lesson on Boolean logic) and tossing them out makes a logic concept physical. Students see the process of focusing on specific keywords when I stand in front of a view screen and enter their shouted-out suggestions for search terms. It is far more effective and immediate than watching a video.

School librarians, teachers, and students need to experience, touch, and modify on the fly. This is a major limitation of relying on artificial intelligence. It also underscores the need for human contact and emotional support. We need to teach students how to think critically – necessary if the students want to program our future AI systems.

References:

Montti, Roger. (January 31, 2023). 11 Disadvantages of ChatGPT. Search Engine Journal. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/disadvantages-chatgpt-content/477416/#close