Tutor: They Help Us Learn And Grow

These days, most conversations online inevitably turn to the amazing new advancements in artificial intelligence. New language processing tools like ChatGPT are being used to explore the uncanny valleys of everything from code to music to college essays, sometimes even in the style of a pirate. Argh, will tutors be walking the plank when our AI overlords take over?

Not so fast…

Algorithms have been writing up detailed synopses of my fantasy football victories for years, but Matthew Berry and the rest of the fantasy sports industrial complex still make money hand over fist. Chatbots are supposed to handle the scut work, leaving high-touch skilled labor to professionals. Of course, victims of every industrial revolution fell for the same line, so I thought I’d scope out how much the potential competition knew about tutors and what we do.

I fired up ChatGPT and issued two simple commands:

1. Write a poem in iambic pentameter about how to be a great tutor.
2. Write a poem in iambic pentameter about how great tutors are.

Obviously, I’m a sucker for conventional rhyme schemes in poetry, but this task also serves to assess just how much the AI really knows about the complex art and science of individual education. The combined outputs of my two commands says it all:

A tutor must be patient and kind,
To help their student’s knowledge unwind.
They must be willing to take the time,
To help their student’s knowledge climb.

Tutors are so great, they help us learn and grow,
Their knowledge and wisdom, we all come to know.
They guide us through lessons, and help us to see,
The answers that we seek, so our minds can be free.

Their patience and kindness, they show us each day,
Their guidance and wisdom, they never betray.
They help us to understand, and to think more deeply,
So that we can learn, and our minds can be free.

Tutors are so great, they help us learn and grow,
Their knowledge and wisdom, we all come to know.
They guide us through lessons, and help us to see,
The answers that we seek, so our minds can be free.

The results–and painful punctuation–speak for themselves. In the future, AI may develop EQ to match its already peerless machine IQ. For now, at least, neither poets nor tutors need to worry about losing their jobs to chatbots!

— Mike Bergin

Tutor Tips, Tools, and Thoughts

What poker pro Annie Duke can teach you about quitting on time
When does quit beat grit?

How to train your brain to enjoy doing hard things
The more effort something takes, the more we tend to value it.

Does growth mindset matter? The debate heats up
How can two meta-analyses on the topic come to different conclusions?

Virtual School Enrollment Kept Climbing Even As COVID Receded, New Data Reveal
Do some students actually like Zoom school?

Minimalist Productivity Tip
Need to get more done? Create two user profiles on your computer.

 

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