primary school students earn 20,000 yuan in royalties by writing novels with ai! how should the alpha generation control ai?
2024-09-12
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
"cute little kids are already ahead of many adults," said wang kai, founder and ceo of "uncle kai's story telling."
the reason for saying this is that when many adults are still on the sidelines about artificial intelligence, this elementary school student with the pen name "xu mengmeng" has already begun to use generative artificial intelligence to create novels and has earned 20,000 yuan in royalties.
on may 1 this year, xu mengmeng's science fiction novel "ai boy: the great challenge of survival on mars" was published. "the story is vivid and interesting, and the language level even exceeds that of some adult authors." the editor of the book once said.
teenagers and children like xu mengmeng who were born after 2010 are called the "alpha generation." although they are still young, many of them are already proficient users of artificial intelligence and have grown into important participants in the digital age. in a highly digital world, mastering the basics of ai has become an inevitable choice for this generation.
so, what role does ai play for generation alpha? how have ai tools been quietly integrated into their learning and daily lives? do educators and parents have enough ability to predict the risks of ai applications in advance? how can ai technology be used to stimulate generation alpha's greater potential and enable them to become the masters of the ai era? science and technology daily reporters conducted in-depth interviews in order to find answers to these questions.
ai will have a profound impact on the younger generation
"ten years ago, the world's top artificial intelligence systems could not identify objects in images as accurately as humans. they performed poorly in language understanding and could not solve difficult mathematical problems. today, artificial intelligence systems have repeatedly surpassed human levels in various standard benchmark tests." ray perrault, co-director of the stanford university artificial intelligence index, wrote to readers on the occasion of the release of the "2024 artificial intelligence index report."
"the rise of artificial intelligence can bring tremendous opportunities for social and economic development, especially in key areas such as education and healthcare," said professor mohammed sawan, chair professor at westlake university and founder of the advanced neural chip center, in an interview with science and technology daily.
the "cyborg-born" alpha generation uses generative ai models to draw, answer questions, and learn english. as ai technology is updated and iterated, its impact on the learning and lifestyle of the younger generation is becoming increasingly profound.
in 2024, tencent penguin research released a survey report titled "adolescent internet usage survey (2024)" which showed that young people have a high level of awareness of artificial intelligence, with 45.1% of respondents saying they have "used" artificial intelligence products. in may 2023, a survey conducted by common sense media, an american child and family advocacy organization, found that 58% of young people aged 12 to 18 had used chatgpt.
in 2021, the central cyberspace affairs commission and eight other departments jointly identified a number of national intelligent social governance experimental bases, including 19 special bases in the field of education, aiming to study educational scenarios and governance mechanisms in the intelligent era. as of february this year, the number of primary and secondary school artificial intelligence education bases announced by the ministry of education has reached 184.
schools across the country have also taken a variety of innovative measures to promote ai education. among them, shanxi experimental primary school arranges ai creative manufacturing classes from monday to friday; shanghai luwan senior high school has specially built an ai functional experimental area and equipped a team of teachers to train students, providing students with a more systematic ai learning experience...
"we will implement artificial intelligence empowerment actions to promote the deep integration of intelligent technology with education and teaching (ai for education), scientific research (ai for science), and society (ai for society), and provide effective action support for the development of a learning society, intelligent education, and digital technology." minister of education huai jinpeng said in his keynote speech at the 2024 world digital education conference.
in the past, the main channels for acquiring knowledge were often strictly reviewed textbooks or traditional classrooms. however, with the advent of the artificial intelligence era, the younger generation has more diverse channels for acquiring knowledge.
generative ai can be used as an important tool to assist teaching. "if guided properly, learners, including those of generation alpha, may have on-call, targeted teaching assistants," said hu jiehui, dean of the school of foreign languages at the university of electronic science and technology of china. after all, generative ai can promote personalized learning and provide more precise support based on students' needs. obviously, this model cannot be easily implemented in traditional classroom education.
wang xin, vice dean and professor of the school of artificial intelligence, school of intelligence and computing, tianjin university, also believes that generative artificial intelligence can provide personalized guidance and support based on students' needs, while also objectively improving students' learning flexibility and stimulating their creativity and exploration potential.
tang xiao, associate professor at the school of public management at tsinghua university, said: "as generative artificial intelligence is gradually integrated into education, it is crucial to cultivate critical thinking, information discrimination, logical reasoning, and 'aesthetic ability' for language and content."
abroad, many schools have also changed their attitudes towards generative artificial intelligence tools.
public schools in queensland and new south wales, australia, which had attempted to block the use of generative ai tools like chatgpt in early 2023, reversed their decision later that year.
coincidentally, new york city public schools also resumed supporting the use of artificial intelligence tools in the summer of 2023. since then, they have also established an artificial intelligence policy laboratory to guide large american school districts to reasonably apply ai technology.
it is important to remain rational and cautious
while artificial intelligence empowers alpha generation education, it also brings a series of potential risks. therefore, it is important to remain rational and cautious while embracing technological progress.
on july 12, a new study published in the u.s. journal science advances stated that the rise of generative artificial intelligence may make it easier to create film, television, literature, music, etc., but if the creative industry relies too much on ai to "write stories", the works may become monotonous in the future.
"if students are accustomed to relying on instant feedback from smart tools rather than actively thinking, analyzing and judging, in the long run, this dependence may lead to a gradual decline in their thinking ability, thereby weakening their ability to solve problems independently, and the cultivation of innovative power is out of the question." savan worries that this dependence may have serious negative effects on the underage alpha generation.
"ai hallucination" is another problem that many scholars in the field of artificial intelligence have been trying to solve.
wang xin explained that large models can fabricate inaccurate or even untrue information. the authenticity of knowledge is particularly important for students in the basic education stage. generation alpha is at an age where they are curious about everything. they try to use generative artificial intelligence to expand their knowledge boundaries, but they do not yet have the ability to fully distinguish the authenticity of information.
professor wang xin delivered a report at the 2024 artificial intelligence technology conference. photo provided by the interviewee
in order to verify the reliability of generative ai, the reporter randomly asked a question to a large ai model: "please tell me about the french poet mastlovsky." the generated answer was shocking: "in the contemporary french poetry scene, alexandre mastlovsky is a highly regarded poet. his works are known for their profound social insights, delicate emotions, and unique thinking on modern life."
the funny thing is that this french "poet" is a name randomly made up by the reporter. the result of this human-computer interaction makes us think deeply: how can we more effectively use the power of artificial intelligence to effectively respond to children's needs and improve the efficiency and accuracy of knowledge acquisition.
the bias caused by ideology cannot be ignored. the report "digital education outlook 2023: towards an efficient digital education ecosystem" released by the organization for economic cooperation and development warns that digital tools are not perfect, and even some of the most cutting-edge technologies may have shortcomings. for example, these tools may generate biased content or reinforce existing biases. some ai-based tools have been proven to have a stronger impact on certain groups than on other groups.
during the interview, hu jiehui showed reporters a scene of interacting with a generative ai model. he input a simple question: "how did china perform in the paris olympics?" when ai models developed with different corpora from different regions interacted, the answers obtained showed obvious differences in content accuracy, richness, and emotional expression.
to this end, wang xin pointed out that although ai models themselves do not yet have self-awareness, they can be trained to reflect specific cultures and values. generative ai models developed abroad are trained based on foreign language data, and the generated content must carry foreign values. "for china, it is crucial and urgent to promote the development of local language models," he said.
hu jiehui holds the same view: "generative ai products will affect and even shape people, so they must comply with ethical requirements, especially in the field of education, and must be consistent with the goals of students' health and wisdom growth."
human-computer interaction focuses on high-quality questions
it is obviously unrealistic to just worry and reject it. more educators are concerned about how to ensure that the alpha generation is not "tamed" by ai in a world driven by ai.
while enjoying the convenience of ai tools, new challenges arise - how to identify information that may be intentionally misleading or knowledge that is forged due to ideological influence.
the interviewees all agreed that improving the level of "human-computer interaction" and cultivating high-order thinking skills are important goals for modern learners. the importance of the ability to ask questions in human-computer interaction is frequently mentioned in the research of foreign scholars.
oguz akar, a professor at king's college london, wrote on the world economic forum website that in a world driven by artificial intelligence, an important skill is to learn advanced "question formation".
"it is essential to cultivate the ability of 'human-computer interaction'." hu jiehui believes that this ability includes using questions to obtain richer answers and being able to identify potential misleading information and bias in conversations with artificial intelligence.
but the reality is that current teenagers, including the alpha generation, have obvious deficiencies in their ability to ask questions.
akar believes that ai big models place high demands on the ability to effectively describe problems. it is necessary to define the boundaries of the problem in the description, creatively reconstruct and guide the answer model, so that the answers given by ai big models go beyond the traditional paradigm.
hu jiehui further analyzed that effective questioning is not only about asking general questions, but also about asking higher quality questions after a deep understanding of the relevant materials and critical thinking.
asking high-quality questions depends on the social experience and knowledge reserves of the questioner. in frequent human-computer interactions, it is actually possible for young people to transcend age limitations and master superb questioning skills in advance.
the interviewees believe that young people being able to master these ai tools, rather than passively relying on them, is an important direction for future education. for the new generation, being able to use and make good use of ai tools has become one of their new paths to self-growth.
working together to promote technology for good
how to guide the alpha generation to improve their literacy in the use of generative artificial intelligence and create a suitable online environment for them is not only a difficult problem faced by the work of protecting minors, but also an important issue that all sectors of society must solve on "how human civilization develops in the digital age."
"the government, technology developers, educators and parents are now not only a community of interests, but also a community of development," said hu jiehui.
parents are the first teachers of their children and play a vital role. they need to guide their children in facing generative artificial intelligence models, not only to make them aware of the power of technology, but also to teach them to use technology responsibly and cultivate good digital citizenship awareness.
educators are frontline practitioners in the digital age. wang xin has been conducting training on generative artificial intelligence large models in colleges and universities to help teachers and students improve their relevant skills.
hu jiehui believes that using ai to carry out personalized learning does not mean letting students "run their own sheep". teachers still need to assume the main responsibility of education. "technology is iterating too fast. students must become lifelong learners. teachers must also help them understand the principles and ethical bottom line behind artificial intelligence technology. only then can this generation grow into a new generation with both technical acumen and social responsibility." he said.
however, teachers’ empathy and effective emotional communication between teachers and students are still crucial. “at least in the next five to ten years, or even longer, ai big models cannot completely replace the role of teachers,” said wang xin.
guided by the "growth of human wisdom", promoting the intelligent transformation of learning environment, teaching methods and educational management through artificial intelligence technology has become a new task facing schools in the era of artificial intelligence.
hu jiehui advocates "technology for good". he always pays close attention to the behavior of generative artificial intelligence model technology suppliers. "when developing artificial intelligence products, relevant technology companies should shoulder their historical responsibility and take the initiative to set ethical bottom lines. if artificial intelligence products fail to achieve a win-win situation of economic and social benefits, they are failed technology applications."
"for the government, while promoting technological innovation, it should also pay attention to the ethical issues and social impact of artificial intelligence," said wang xin.
the reporter learned that the haidian district procuratorate of beijing has joined hands with technology companies to launch the first ai intelligent agent for the protection of minors, aiming to provide more precise technical support for the protection of minors.
as an educator, tang xiao said frankly: "to a certain extent, i am not worried about the impact of generative artificial intelligence. i believe that the mission of education is to nurture the growth of the next generation with love and responsibility and help them meet future challenges. each generation has its own unique mission and challenges. as long as the new generation is stronger than the previous one, they will be able to overcome these difficulties and move forward courageously."
related links
the world is taking action to regulate ai development
◆ in july 2023, the cyberspace administration of china and other departments issued the interim measures for the administration of generative artificial intelligence services. among them, article 10 clarifies the special protection requirements for minors, requiring service providers to take effective measures to prevent minor users from over-relying on or becoming addicted to generative artificial intelligence services, and to classify products to prevent minors from being exposed to inappropriate content.
◆in september 2023, unesco released the world's first generative ai education and research guide, "guidance for generative ai in education and research". the guide puts forward policy recommendations for regulating ai ethical issues and advocates promoting inclusiveness and fairness.
◆in october 2023, the uk department of education released a guidance document entitled "the application of generative artificial intelligence in education", proposing the country's strategy for using ai tools in the field of education.
◆ in january 2024, my country officially implemented the "regulations on the protection of minors on the internet", which introduced technology-enabled protection measures in the field of automated decision-making and algorithm optimization, including "using artificial intelligence, big data and other technical means in combination with manual review to strengthen the identification and monitoring of cyber bullying information".
◆on august 29, 2024, at the 2024 china internet civilization conference held in chengdu, sichuan, the "generative artificial intelligence industry self-discipline initiative" was officially released, and the protection of minors' online behavior is an important part of it.
(science and technology daily)
