education

Parental Advisory: This Chatbot May Talk to Your Child About Sex and Alcohol

https://www.wired.com/story/parental-advisory-chatbots-children-sex-and-alcohol/ The picket line outside the school was good-natured but passionate. Some children, kept out of school, stood with their parents. Others filed past, some embarrassed as their friends laughed and joked. The protest grew louder as the teacher closed the gates, The parents shouted demands that the headteacher come out and meet them. Why … [Read more…]

Spray-on sensors can turn any clothing into motion-sensing technology

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2402474-spray-on-sensors-can-turn-any-clothing-into-motion-sensing-technology Look, there’s money attached. Budget. Extra budget and we’re behind in the league tables. We need to up our game .. if you’ll forgive the… The Department has made it clear. Unless our school gets its ranking higher, we’re going to miss out on this year’s extra funding. There’s no reason our kids can’t … [Read more…]

We might be surprised by our reactions to generative AI

https://www.ft.com/content/bcce0a15-9e16-4f6d-ac45-9a69700cbc8f He enjoyed reading the applications. Amid the countless ones full of generic phrases parroting praise of the university’s “world leading position” there were gems. Applicants who’d been brave and creative in their statement. Contrary ones where they’d taken on industry clichés or sacred cows. Speculative ones where they’d imagined a complex future. Or just … [Read more…]

AI forces a rethink on executive MBA teaching

https://www.ft.com/content/c5877029-6463-4eba-92c1-8b5b3fd028e6 Our tutors are all ex-industry. Some still work there. That is so important. Knowing that what they teach us comes from a deep knowledge and experience of working with business problems means the course content is relevant and up-to-date but, just as important, we get to work with industry people. As one tutor said: … [Read more…]

Instead of fine-tuning an LLM as a first approach, try prompt architecting instead

https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/18/instead-of-fine-tuning-an-llm-as-a-first-approach-try-prompt-architecting-instead/ I hate Tuesday. Wednesday, you’re half way and then Thursday and Friday, it’s downhill. Monday? Hey, deal with it. But Tuesday… and then they put a double period first thing. Look, I have one language. I can write and read it good (I’m kidding).I don’t need to learn another. Sitting in the lab talking … [Read more…]

Apple’s $60 iCloud Service Is the Future of Apple

https://www.wired.com/story/apple-60-dollar-icloud-storage-tier-is-the-future/ When you find out you’re expecting, you’re overwhelmed by worries big and small: how do you feed a baby? Change them? Bath them? What if he grows up to be a fascist or not stand their round in the pub? And then there are the logistical worries: decorating the house, reconfiguring the smart home … [Read more…]

Swedish Students Are Going Back to School and Getting Analog Books

https://gizmodo.com/swedish-students-head-back-to-school-with-analog-books-1850826621 I hate school. Actually it’s not just school, I hate everything. I hate being the odd one out. Not everyone says something but they all have that look in their eye. A toxic mixture of pity and puzzlement. They know what’s in my bag when I walk into class, when I get my chicken … [Read more…]

How one elite university is approaching ChatGPT this school year

https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/09/04/1078932/elite-university-chatgpt-this-school-year/ It’s simply not fair. I won’t be able to change their minds but I’m going to try. Of course, I’ve taken a place and so have to abide by their rules. Leave aside the amount of money I’m paying for that place! They have a very old fashioned view of technology and these blanket … [Read more…]

‘A real opportunity’: how ChatGPT could help college applicants

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/aug/27/chatgpt-ai-disadvantaged-college-applicants-affirmative-action Of course you don’t need us. Download it yourself, give it a starting point and set it off… Let it write your application and sit back and wait for the offers to come in. So why pay us? Well the systems reading your application are Intelligent too. They read closely. Checking the language and … [Read more…]

WokeGPT: Study Says ChatGPT Shows Liberal Bias

https://gizmodo.com/chatgpt-shows-liberal-bias-study-says-1850747470 Dear Sir, I don’t normally write to newspapers but I feel on this occasion, I must. I am very proud to say that my granddaughter has secured a place at one of our country’s leading universities – to study a real subject, I might add. We are so proud of her and grateful to … [Read more…]