比尔·盖茨：人工智能对教育来说是一种双赢
盖茨说：“技术在教育领域的作用并不总是显而易见的，但其潜力和前景却十分鼓舞人心。”
不过，盖茨最初对OpenAI的力量是存有疑虑的，直到他被萨姆·奥尔特曼和格雷格·布罗克曼“最令人惊叹的演示”所吸引。虽然盖茨承认人工智能无法做到人类能够做的一切事情——它们表现得像“不太擅长理解上下文的人类”，而且聊天机器人可能会出错，但他仍然对人工智能工具的进展感到震惊。他思考应该如何最好地运用这些创新成果，于是便想到了教育——考虑到盖茨基金会（The Gates Foundation）在教育慈善事业上花费了数十亿美元（尽管他们的努力并非总可以取得成效），这也许并不奇怪。
盖茨解释道，将新技术引入教育领域的失败经历往往会让教师感到自己的创造力和独立性受到侵害。他表示，“然而，我们都知道教师是英勇的，从事着世界上最重要也是最艰难的职业之一”，并称人工智能实际上可以在教师忙得不可开交时提供帮助。
盖茨称，人工智能能够弥补现有软件在教授阅读和写作技能方面的不足。他说：“很少有学生可以得到自己文章的反馈，例如这里能够写得更明白一些，你遗漏了这一点和论证过程等。我确实认为人工智能会成为一个优秀的高中教师，它可以切实地给你的文章打分，让你能够回过头来思考：‘好吧，我这点需要改进。’”
可汗补充道，可汗学院新开发的人工智能驱动的助教Khanmigo可能会在不久的将来被用于帮助提取信息，并提醒老师哪些学生走神或需要提问。虽然Khanmigo还有一些问题尚未解决，而且有些教师认为它太快提供帮助以至于学生们都来不及自己先尝试解决问题，但可汗认为它拥有巨大的潜力并且甚至有可能在某些时候通过图灵测试。
研究也发现，将生成式人工智能引入教育领域实际上可能有助于提高教师的工作效率。领英（LinkedIn）最新发布的《人工智能未来工作报告》（A.I. Future of Work report）将教师列为技能可能因为人工智能而增强的程度第三高（45%）的常见职业。不过，该报告并没有将这一点视为人工智能将取代教师职业的迹象，而是断言人工智能可以协助备课和教学辅导，让教师能够专注于发挥管理班级和给予学生更多个人关注等软技能。
盖茨在播客里说：“我一直以来都低估了一件事情，那就是对大多数学生而言，拥有某种社会经验是多么有价值的事情。”他还指出，生成式人工智能能够帮助“缩小教育差距并提升整体成绩水平”，表示人工智能可以改善低收入和少数族裔学生的教育。他说，正因此，他在盖茨基金会首次进入教育领域时才持有更为乐观的态度。
总的来说，他认为生成式人工智能本质上与其说是教师，不如说更像助教。平心而论，盖茨的专业背景是计算机而非教育，因此他对效率的定义或许更符合硅谷的处事态度，而不是教育思维。不过，几十年来他一直在努力改善全球教育，这是值得称赞的。
盖茨表示，至于人工智能会如何影响教师就业市场，这是“最难回答的问题”，并补充称，教师永远不会过多，市场对教师的需求是“无限的”。但他承认，人工智能带来的变化并非没有潜在的未知后果：“很难预料人工智能将会如何改变一切。”（财富中文网）
译者：中慧言-刘嘉欢
小学生可能喜欢把豌豆和胡萝卜分开，但比尔·盖茨准备帮助孩子们做出一些改变——至少在人工智能领域里是这样。将这项新技术与教育融合，可能会像果冻混合肉类一样不伦不类，也可能如饼干搭配奶油般相得益彰，不过后者更为契合盖茨的乐观看法。在盖茨的播客节目《解惑》（Unconfuse Me）的最近一期中，他对嘉宾萨尔·可汗——非营利教育机构可汗学院（Khan Academy）的首席执行官——表示，人工智能可能有助于促进教育事业。
盖茨说：“技术在教育领域的作用并不总是显而易见的，但其潜力和前景却十分鼓舞人心。”
不过，盖茨最初对OpenAI的力量是存有疑虑的，直到他被萨姆·奥尔特曼和格雷格·布罗克曼“最令人惊叹的演示”所吸引。虽然盖茨承认人工智能无法做到人类能够做的一切事情——它们表现得像“不太擅长理解上下文的人类”，而且聊天机器人可能会出错，但他仍然对人工智能工具的进展感到震惊。他思考应该如何最好地运用这些创新成果，于是便想到了教育——考虑到盖茨基金会（The Gates Foundation）在教育慈善事业上花费了数十亿美元（尽管他们的努力并非总可以取得成效），这也许并不奇怪。
盖茨解释道，将新技术引入教育领域的失败经历往往会让教师感到自己的创造力和独立性受到侵害。他表示，“然而，我们都知道教师是英勇的，从事着世界上最重要也是最艰难的职业之一”，并称人工智能实际上可以在教师忙得不可开交时提供帮助。
盖茨称，人工智能能够弥补现有软件在教授阅读和写作技能方面的不足。他说：“很少有学生可以得到自己文章的反馈，例如这里能够写得更明白一些，你遗漏了这一点和论证过程等。我确实认为人工智能会成为一个优秀的高中教师，它可以切实地给你的文章打分，让你能够回过头来思考：‘好吧，我这点需要改进。’”
可汗补充道，可汗学院新开发的人工智能驱动的助教Khanmigo可能会在不久的将来被用于帮助提取信息，并提醒老师哪些学生走神或需要提问。虽然Khanmigo还有一些问题尚未解决，而且有些教师认为它太快提供帮助以至于学生们都来不及自己先尝试解决问题，但可汗认为它拥有巨大的潜力并且甚至有可能在某些时候通过图灵测试。
研究也发现，将生成式人工智能引入教育领域实际上可能有助于提高教师的工作效率。领英（LinkedIn）最新发布的《人工智能未来工作报告》（A.I. Future of Work report）将教师列为技能可能因为人工智能而增强的程度第三高（45%）的常见职业。不过，该报告并没有将这一点视为人工智能将取代教师职业的迹象，而是断言人工智能可以协助备课和教学辅导，让教师能够专注于发挥管理班级和给予学生更多个人关注等软技能。
盖茨在播客里说：“我一直以来都低估了一件事情，那就是对大多数学生而言，拥有某种社会经验是多么有价值的事情。”他还指出，生成式人工智能能够帮助“缩小教育差距并提升整体成绩水平”，表示人工智能可以改善低收入和少数族裔学生的教育。他说，正因此，他在盖茨基金会首次进入教育领域时才持有更为乐观的态度。
总的来说，他认为生成式人工智能本质上与其说是教师，不如说更像助教。平心而论，盖茨的专业背景是计算机而非教育，因此他对效率的定义或许更符合硅谷的处事态度，而不是教育思维。不过，几十年来他一直在努力改善全球教育，这是值得称赞的。
盖茨表示，至于人工智能会如何影响教师就业市场，这是“最难回答的问题”，并补充称，教师永远不会过多，市场对教师的需求是“无限的”。但他承认，人工智能带来的变化并非没有潜在的未知后果：“很难预料人工智能将会如何改变一切。”（财富中文网）
译者：中慧言-刘嘉欢
Elementary schoolers might like to keep their peas and carrots separate, but Bill Gates is ready to shake some stuff up for the kids—at least, when it comes to A.I. Mixing the new tech with education could go together as disastrously as jello and meat or as harmoniously as cookies and cream, though Gates’ optimistic viewpoint fits more with the tub of ice cream. In a recent episode of his podcast, “Unconfuse Me,” with guest Sal Khan, CEO of non-profit education company Khan Academy, he expressed that A.I. could help advance the classroom.
“The role of technology in education isn’t always obvious, but the potential and the possibilities are inspiring,” Gates said.
That’s despite initially doubting the power of OpenAI until he was gripped by “the most stunning demo” from Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. While he acknowledges that A.I. can’t do everything humans do—they act like “a human that’s not very good with context”—and that chatbots can get buggy, he was in shock at the tool’s state. Thinking of how these innovations could best be applied, his mind went to education, perhaps not surprising considering that The Gates Foundation has spent billions on education philanthropy (although their efforts haven’t always succeeded).
Gates explained that oftentimes, bringing new tech into a classroom unsuccessfully often feels to teachers like an infringement on their creativity and independence. “And yet we all know teachers are heroic, one of the most important, hardest jobs in the world,” he said, suggesting that A.I. could actually help them when they have too much on their plates.
A.I. could compensate for where current software lacks in teaching reading and writing skills, he said. “Very few students get feedback on an essay, that this could be clearer, you really skipped this piece and the reasoning,” he says. “I do think the A.I. will be like a great high school teacher who really marks your essay and you go back and think, ‘okay, I need to step up there.’”
Khan added that Khanmigo, a new A.I. powered tutor created by Khan Academy, might be used in the near future to help distill information and alert teachers about which students are disengaged or have questions. While it’s still working out some issues and some teachers say it’s too quick to help students before they try a problem themselves, Khan thinks it’s potential is powerful and that it might even pass the Turing test at times.
Even research finds that bringing generative A.I. to the classroom might actually help teachers become more productive. LinkedIn’s new A.I. Future of Work report lists teaching as the common occupation with the third highest share of skills potentially augmented by A.I.: 45%. But rather than seeing this as a sign that the tech would replace teachers’ jobs, he report asserts that A.I. could help with lesson planning and tutoring, enabling teachers to focus on soft skills like managing classrooms and giving students more individual attention.
“One thing I always underestimated is how valuable it is for most students to have kind of a social experience,” Gates said in the podcast. He also noted that generative A.I. can help “close the [education] gap and raise up the overall level of achievement,” suggesting it could bolster lower-income and minority students. It’s increased the optimism he had when the Gates Foundation first entered the education space, he said.
Overall, he ultimately sees generative A.I. as more of an assistant teacher than a teacher. To be fair, Gates has a background in computers, not education, which might make his definition of productivity more aligned with a Silicon Valley approach than a classroom mentality. But there’s something to be said for the decades he’s spent trying to improve global education.
As for the teacher job market, that’s “the hardest question to answer,” he said, adding that there will never be too many teachers and demand is “infinite.” The change doesn’t come without potential unknown consequences though, he admits: “It’s very hard to predict how it’ll shift things.”
