24/04/18

Looking to future-proof your career in the age of AI? A showdown between kids and machines points the way.

 

 

Fill in the gaps in the article with the words in bold below:

 

outperformed                 recall                  come up with                 livelihood                            lean

retrieving                         vast                     uniquely                           bang                   set (sb) apart

 

With a steady drumbeat of studies and surveys suggesting AI may soon replace a great many human workers, it’s easy to feel panicked about how artificial intelligence might impact your business. And it’s not just entrepreneurs — many professionals are worried about how AI might impact their careers at the moment. 

But before you lose too much sleep over whether a robot might come for your 1. ………, I point you to a fun, fascinating, and reassuring recent study out of the University of California, Berkeley. (…)

Like a far more scientific version of the game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, the team pitted kids aged 3 to 7 against several AI models, including GPT-4, to figure out who was the better performer. The contest consisted of two rounds. (…) the first focused on recall and application of existing knowledge (…) The second test was focused on innovation rather than 2. ……. . For this task, the kids and bots were presented with a group of everyday objects and were asked which one they could use to complete a task. None of the objects was directly associated with the task (if they were trying to 3. …….. a nail, no hammer was available). But one object was similar enough to existing tools in some essential way that it could get the job done. For example, if subjects were asked to draw a circle, they could trace the bottom of a round teapot.

Who performed better? With 4. …….. training libraries and huge computing power behind them, the AI models 5. ……….. the grade schoolers when it came to 6. ……….. correct information about well-known scenarios. But when it came to thinking creatively, the kids crushed the machines. (…)

Humans remain 7. …….. good at understanding the deeper properties of the world around them and using that information to 8. ……… new ideas or unique combinations. (…) it’s this childlike ability to engage with the physical world and dream up new connections (as well as empathy and EQ) that will 9. ……  humans …… for a long time yet. 

This new study just underlines this advice. If you’re looking to future-proof your business and career, those are the skills you should probably 10. ….. into. 

 

In order to read the whole article/check your answers, go to: https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/scientists-pitted-4-year-olds-against-ai-kids-crushed-machines-1-skill

Key: 1. livelihood; 2. recall; 3. bang; 4. vast; 5. outperformed; 6. retrieving; 7. uniquely; 8. come up with;9. set (humans) apart; 10. lean

 

Glossary

 

  • to pit someone/something against someone/something – to cause one person, group, or thing to fight against or be in competition with another
  • future-proof – to design software, a computer, etc. so that it can still be used in the future, even when technology changes
  • showdown – an event, such as a meeting or fight, that ends a disagreement or decides who will win
  • drumbeat – a rapid or overwhelming outpouring of many things at once

Practice makes perfect

Use the verbs in brackets in either Present Simple or Present Perfect tense (active or passive form)

The rapidly expanding use of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools 1. ………. [FIRE UP] a fervent debate in academia. On one side of the debate, professors and teachers 2. ………… [CONCERN] over the future of postsecondary learning and threats to traditional disciplines, especially within the humanities, as headlines warn of “The End of the English Major.” Nevertheless, AI is here and about a third of teachers, from kindergarten through high school, 3. ……… [REPORT] using it in the classroom, according to a recent survey. While many of our colleagues in higher education policy, science policy, and university design 4. ………. [CRITICIZE] or 5. …….. [DISMISS] generative AI, we are instead decidedly optimistic it will follow a pattern seen in other technologies that 6. ………… [ENHANCE] educational access and success. We believe that when new technologies 7. ……….. [EMBRACE] , core aspects of learning, including curriculum, instruction and assessment, can 8. ………… [REVOLUTIONIZE]. We are optimistic about AI, but we don’t see it as a hero. Students and instructors are still the heroes of human learning, even when AI 9. …………. [INVOLVE] . History 10. ……….. [SUPPORT] this view. From the Gutenberg press to online math classes, technologies that improve access to quality learning opportunities 11. ……… routinely ………. [DISMISS] by critics and skeptics, especially by those who hold the reins in the classroom. (…)

 

Key: 1. has fired up; 2. are concerned; 3. report; 4. criticize; 5. dismiss; 6. have enhanced; 7. are embraced; 8. be revolutionized; 9.; 10. is involved; 10. supports; 11. are (routinely) dismissed

 

The whole article can be retrieved from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ai-can-transform-the-classroom-just-like-the-calculator

 

Discuss

 

  • How do you feel about AI?
  • Are you excited about all the opportunities AI creates or rather frightened of it?
  • Are you worried about how AI might impact your career?
  • Do you use ChatGPT at work/in your private life? How?

 

 

Explore more to create your own teaching-learning experience!

 

Human Insights: 9 of the Brightest Minds in AI on Where We Are and Where We Will Be

 

Read

https://www.inc.com/magazine/202404/jennifer-conrad/ben-sherry/human-insights-9-of-brightest-minds-in-ai-on-where-we-are-where-we-will-be

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