I'm a non-traditional student and I have used AI to help with math.

Let me explain something. When I try to do a general search for help on how to solve a problem the top results in most search engines aren't the old Academy style videos of guides anymore. They are sponsored links, paid tutoring websites, and YouTube videos of people playing at influencer instead of teaching.

The same is true for researching most given topics.

I have tried to use AI ethically but I know it's problematic.

When trying to find sources the old academic websites still hold but finding those websites I had to ask AI with a crafted prompt. I couldnt remeber archive names in my freshmen year. At times, I did ask it to suggest papers from academic sources on topics. I then used my own critical analysis to decide the sources biases and value for the topic and explored around further by looking at the the author's source list. The alternative is usually to be given biased and over simple news articles, Often opinion pieces.

I see the problems with AI but a boolean search only works so well these days.

Going back to math, I could watch a video, but it's sitting through precious time when an AI will answer my question directly and explain the reason I was wrong.

Even if I'm trying to use a math website that actually answers the problem, there will be pop-ups (on the phone) useless text (as if it's a damn recipe website) and possibly mathematical syntax that is above my course level.

Using the AI I can have that syntax explained.

I do understand that AI is a problem and I hate HATE getting info from a middle man like this but I complete understand why a student would.

I also see how tempting it is to just skip those extra steps and take an answer, but I know it also is often wrong. My verification steps and further digging ensures that the AI is returning valid info.

But why do students do it? Because the internet today is a slop bog that they have to navigate on their phones. Often with minimal protection from ads and other useless garbage.

I'm glad I retired from the profession when I did. I was seeing that "no interest in learning anything" with the tools they had then. I can't imagine it now.

Have you considered exposing your students to history in different media?

I hated history specifically as a student. The material was always so dry and excessively white centric. As an adult, I love learning about precolonial America's. This led me into learning more about geology as I discovered native American oral traditions often have startling coincidence with historic natural disasters that white settlers almost universally wrote off as fantasy.

Its about engaging with the students. If youre just reading our of a book, none of them are going to care. Teach them something youre passionate about yourself and see if it changes anything.

there’s just something about not wanting to learn that deeply upsets me

if people turn to AI today to avoid actually learning stuff, that just means that they already didn't actually want to learn something, which was probably true even before AI existed, just that they couldn't avoid it back then.

this means your students never had an interest in learning in the first place; they just couldn't avoid it. speaks more about society pressuring people into learning stuff they don't actually care to learn than it does about new technology IMHO.

It's a crying shame that organic shitposts are going to be gone one day.

Let's go, I also fucking hate this shit, feel like I'm drowning in it. Is this the future we wanted? I fucking hate it.

"You won't always have a calculator to do math for you!" Screamed my algebra teacher.

I don't like AI, I don't use AI, or sparingly (via Google results, no Chats). I honestly am having a tough time reconciling the difference, other than the impacts AI is having on society via hardware shortages, water and power consumption, etc. I'm just wondering if it is dumbing us down in the same way always having a calculator did, or did not.

I don't know how to solve your core problem you are hinting at without society at large realizing many of our problems are the brainwashing of the masses. This problem is why we initially were taught math without calculators in my day, by college they were expected to help with simple math to focus on the more complicated problems.

Here with llms it's important to still write, learn to research something (even more than the don't use encyclopedias as a primary source) learning to read with deep understanding and learning to skim. Learning math and logic is as important as ever.

What I see missing quite a bit in the antiai art world is the importance of creating art to convey your meaning (if AI is a tool involved or not for writing images ect is this thing showing the meaning and nuance you want not just a off the top of your head comment and auto ship the slop output) and the only way you can go no that's not what I want is to have some idea how to make the piece of writing or art yourself even at a high level.

I personally like the tech but see it accelerating the brain drain for those that rely on it too for answers as the learn.

what to say to somebody who hates ai?

"Acknowledge their concerns and express understanding of their feelings, as many people have valid worries about AI's impact on society. You can also share that AI has potential benefits and that discussing its responsible use can be more productive than outright rejection."

Yeah that doesn't sound like it's gonna work....