Shyam Barr

Blog

 

PREFACE

This blog discusses topics that exist between the fields cognitive psychology and leadership, teaching and learning. Although I make connections between research and personal experience (my attempt at bridging the age-old ‘theory-practice’ gap), I write for a general audience. It is as Mihaly Csikszenmihalyi stated in the preface of his book FLOW:

“To take this step is somewhat dangerous, because as soon as one strays from the stylised constraints of academic prose, it is easy to become careless or overly enthusiastic about such a topic” (p. xi)

To avoid carelessness, I will endeavour to include references to journal articles, books and alike (as commonly expected in academic writing), but not at the expense of accessibility and ease of reading. This will be a delicate balance and one I will endeavour to achieve.

To end, I chose the word ‘discusses’ in the first sentence of this preface, to highlight that although the blog articles themselves are very much a dialogue between myself and what I read, I encourage you to share your comments and questions, so that we may start a more authentic discussion. 

 
 

Who can you TRUST? Navigating Information in a ChatGPT Era

You sit down at your computer. A fresh cup of tea in hand and you’re ready to read this education article. As you start to read, your mind wanders:


I wonder if Shyam actually wrote this or whether it was generated by ChatGPT?

Would Shyam do that? What if he has? How can I be sure that what I’m reading is actually his original thinking?

Hand on heart - This is me. My original thought. Do you trust me?

 

Early functions of ChatGPT

ChatGPT generates information. When asked to “write a 500-word blog on the topic of teaching self-regulated learning in schools in the style of Shyam Barr”, it produced the following:

It’s extremely impressive for artificial intelligence.

To my knowledge, there is no existing government mandate that says information produced by ChatGPT and curated on a blog or a website must be labeled for the reader with “ChatGPT produced this information”. So… if you came across this information - How would you differentiate whether ChatGPT had written it or whether it was original human thought?

 

The problem with source evaluation strategies

You might use a questioning strategy (e.g., the CRAAP test) to evaluate the source:

  • Who is the author?

  • Is the author qualified to write on the topic?

  • Has the material been peer-reviewed?

  • Has the author been cited elsewhere?

BUT, in a ChatGPT era, you get stuck on the first question - who is the REAL author?

If ChatGPT’s involvement is not clearly stated, how do you know who generated the information? You don’t.

In some ways, it’s like eating a sausage with no clear indication of whether it is real beef or vegan. You can make an assessment of the quality using indicators such as taste, smell, texture, etc., but you can’t really be sure what you’re eating.

 

The role of TRUST

We live in a cognitive economy, where people are paid for their thinking, but that thinking only has value if bought by someone - You. It relies on you paying attention and time to engage with the information.

People “buy” from people they TRUST. 

When ChatGPT enters the arena, we have to move beyond the question of “who is the author?” to “can I TRUST the human author”?

So, you might ask:

  • How well do I know the human author?

  • Can I rely on the human author to be honest? Authentic? Transparent in their use of ChatGPT?

  • Do they value and live with integrity?

  • Is this author someone I can TRUST?

As I learn to navigate ChatGPT, I believe this level of critical thinking is not only pertinent to adult learners, but equally - our young people. 

  • How will our young people navigate information in a ChatGPT era?

  • What questions will they ask about online and other sources of information?

  • Will they think critically… and really question the source of information?

  • Do they understand the role of TRUST in our current economy and the future?

  • And…what changes need to occur with the current source evaluation strategies that we teach in schools to better acknowledge ambiguity about the author?

But perhaps the real question is:

Can our young people TRUST the adults in their lives to support them for this exciting but unknown future? 

I have faith. 

I hope you found great value in this article, please:

  1. SAVE and use the questions as prompts for school discussions.

  2. SHARE it with 3 educators committed to critical thinking and the future of education.


Shyam Barr