I recently had the honour of being a plenary presenter at the IATEFL Poland conference. I guess I don't get out very much these days, but what really struck me was the degree of polarisation that AI seems to be causing among teachers.
Most innovative advances are disruptive to some degree and much of what I hear online is similar to the kinds of comments I used to hear in staff rooms back in the late 90s about the internet (See the irony there?).
Anyway, I should link what I'm saying here about the wonderful Pessimists Archive.
The Pessimists Archive https://pessimistsarchive.org is a timeline of technological innovation going back to 1800 and the invention of the telegraph.
- You can click on the timeline along the bottom of the site and it will share with you a selection of genuine news clippings that show what people were saying about these innovations at the time of their introduction to the public.
- You can check out a great entry about the dangers of Jazz https://pessimistsarchive.org/list/jazz/clippings
- Some of the entries also have embedded audio from the Pessimists Archive Podcast: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/pessimistsaloud
- There's a nice example here about television and mass communication with some of the news article being read aloud: https://pessimistsarchive.org/list/television
- The articles are fantastic - There's one here about the connection between cycling and the demise of literature/reading! - Before you read it, try to predict what the connection will be:https://pessimistsarchive.org/list/bicycle/clippings/1895/sc-139
How to use this with students:
- Find an article about a bizarre connection and see if students can predict what the 'logical' justification might be (like the link between cycles and the demise of reading).
- Get students to search the timeline (you could give them different dates to search) and try to find the most bizarre story - They can do this for homework then share/compare in class.
- Get students to try to find an article about a technology/innovation where the writer was logical and correct.
- Get students to create their own bizarre connection stories. They could be based on the impact of AI or any other technology/innovation old or new.
- Get students to discuss some of these questions.
Discuss:
- Why are people so afraid of change?
- How do people who fear change differ from those who embrace change?
- What negative impacts have the technologies of the past had on our present society?
- What bizarre stories are in the press at present?
- What are some examples of technological change that have made our lives worse?
- How could AI really cause a global apocalypse?
- What motivates journalists to write 'scare' type articles about new technologies?
- What motivates people to produce new technologies and innovations?
- What did you learn from The Pessimists Archive?
I hope this works well for you.
Just a quick personal note about AI - This is from my IATEFL plenary presentation "It isn't Artificial Intelligence that scares me, it's human ignorance".
Disclaimer: That isn't to say though that I can guarantee there won't be an AI apocalypse.
If you prefer information over ignorance, you can check out my books: https://payhip.com/peacheypublications/collection/ai-in-elt and courses: https://payhip.com/peacheypublications/collection/courses so that you can approach AI with an informed perspective.
Comments ()