Almost no one doubts that artificial intelligence built by large language models like ChatGPT will change the world. So in which field will AI bring the most fundamental changes to human society? The answer is likely to be education. Since the release of ChatGPT, there have been constant concerns that children may use AI to search for information, and even to write papers and complete assignments. In early January, the New York City Department of Education announced that it would restrict the use of ChatGPT on the network of public schools in the city because of “concerns about the negative impact of GPT on student learning.” Some educational institutions have also recognized the ability of artificial intelligence to customize courses for individual students and have decided to rely on GPT technology to create teachers’ classroom assistants.
In China, many people have begun to worry: Will the advantage of drill-and-practice education still exist in the future? What challenges will the education industry face in this situation? What insights or opportunities will the impact of GPT bring to the education industry? What insights will GPT bring to Chinese education? In response to these questions, “Intellectuals” launched a live discussion in April called “Under the Impact of ChatGPT, Will the Advantages of Chinese Education Disappear?” and invited Jiang Li, director of the Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Future Education project at Stanford University and co-founder of Liran Education, and Luo Boshen, a professor in the Department of Mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University and the head coach of the US Mathematical Olympiad national team, to have an in-depth discussion. Li Zhimin, vice chairman of the China Association for the Development of Education Strategy and director of the Talent Development Professional Committee, served as a guest host.
Li Zhimin said, “I think the invention and application of any new technology that complies with human ethical norms will improve our efficiency and effectiveness, improve the quality of human life, and further improve the level of civilization. Of course, it will also bring concerns and anxieties about career development. Therefore, I think that the method of banning the use of ChatGPT in New York City is unwise. Professor Jiang and I have the same view. But I think the problem we are facing today is that we may be overestimating the impact of GPT in the next year or two. This is our thinking and behavioral habits—we often overestimate the impact of technology in the next year or two, and also tend to underestimate the impact of the next decade due to human thinking and behavioral habits.”
