21st Century Learning and Teaching

4. Artificial stupidity. How can we guard against mistakes?

Intelligence comes from learning, whether you’re human or machine. Systems usually have a training phase in which they "learn" to detect the right patterns and act according to their input. Once a system is fully trained, it can then go into test phase, where it is hit with more examples and we see how it performs.

Obviously, the training phase cannot cover all possible examples that a system may deal with in the real world. These systems can be fooled in ways that humans wouldn't be. For example, random dot patterns can lead a machine to “see” things that aren’t there. If we rely on AI to bring us into a new world of labour, security and efficiency, we need to ensure that the machine performs as planned, and that people can’t overpower it to use it for their own ends.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Ethics

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-innovative-technologies-and-developments/?tag=Artificial+Intelligence

Thomas Metzinger is a philosopher at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, who specialises in the philosophy of mind and neuroscience. He is co-author, with Michael Madary, of a paper calling for a code of conduct for virtual reality.

Why do we need an ethical code of conduct for virtual reality?

Virtual reality headsets like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive will hit the consumer market this year and suddenly millions of people will be using them. VR can induce strong illusions of embodiment, where you feel as if you own and control another body. We do not know what the psychological consequences will be.

What are the risks?

There may be a risk of depersonalisation, where after an extended immersion in a virtual environment, your physical body may seem unreal to you. Fully immersive experiences have a bigger and more lasting impact on people’s behaviour and psychology. We know from the rubber hand illusion that our brains can be fooled into thinking that an inanimate rubber hand is our own. In VR environments, we can be fooled into thinking that we are our avatars.Consumers must understand that not all of the risks are known in advance. There may be a tiny percentage of the population that has a certain psychiatric vulnerability such that binging on VR may result in a prolonged psychotic episode. One can only speculate.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Virtual+Reality

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Ethics

Do you think that robots with artificial intelligence could ultimately provide the expertise and multiple intelligences that we need from human experts?
It’s already clear that artificial intelligence can provide information that we used to secure from experts or that we had to look up ourselves. Just think about Siri, Encore, and the power of many other search engines. There is every reason to believe that these systems will continue to get ‘more intelligent’. As I am writing, the best “go” player in the world is struggling to compete successfully with a newly developed computational system.
I think we need to separate three issues. Firstly does the system reach its ‘answers’ in the same way that human beings do? This is the difference between ‘artificial intelligence’ and ‘human simulation. Secondly does the system manifest its intelligence? For many of us, there’s a big difference between typing a question on our pad, as opposed to conversing with a robot or avatar. The more that the robot resembles a human being, the more satisfying it will be to many individuals, although not to me! Thirdly can the computational system provide a recommended course of action that is as solid, or even more solid, than a well-trained professional? In a way that the client finds satisfying? For the foreseeable future (say a decade or two), I think that the answer is no. But I would add that for individuals who cannot afford to consult a professional, or for whom no professional is available, an artificial system will typically be much better than the recommendations of a friend or than common sense – which is all too often common non-sense.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Howard+GARDNER

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Ethics

Fairness affects everything that we do. It shapes our judgment, impacts our credibility, and affects our ability to trust. Are you fair-minded?

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http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Frank+SONNENBERG

Our Big List of 21st Century Skills
The Global Digital Citizen Foundation has given hundreds of presentations to educators and administrators in several countries over the years. Each time we’ve spoken, we have asked them what they feel are the most important 21st century skills students need above all others.
The answers that we’ve recieved most often are narrowed down below. This list comes from our book Literacy is Not Enough (Crockett, Lee et. al.; 2011). You’ll be able to see that these points correlate rather well with both the New Zealand’s capabilities list and the IB Learner Profile. They certainly cover the Common Core’s bases, too. It’s good to know we’re all on the same page, isn’t it? That’s great news for our students!
So, according to the folks we’ve asked, the consensus is that students need to acquire transparency-level skills in the following areas:

Problem solving
Creativity
Analytic thinking
Collaboration
Communication
Ethics, action, and accountabillty

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https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/what-are-the-skills-needed-from-students-in-the-future/

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2016/02/18/the-new-possibilities-to-learn-and-teach-with-ict/

https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/learning-path-for-professional-21st-century-learning-by-ict-practice/

They won't avoid tough topics. They will say what needs to be said.

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