Now a Magazine Figures Out Why Its Circulation Sucks: Clueless People Do Not Subscribe
April 24, 2025
Sadly I am a dinobaby and too old and stupid to use smart software to create really wonderful short blog posts.I read an essay in a business magazine much loved by those former colleagues I enjoyed at the blue-chip consulting firm where once I worked as a jejune dinobaby. The publication called itself a “newspaper,” but it looked like a magazine to me. The tone was a bit more breezy than the documents cranked out by the blue-chip consulting firm. But the general approach was the same: We know so much more than you. We can, therefore, explain the basics of India’s poverty, the new jet engine from Rolls Royce, or the mysteries of the US home loan system.
That “newspaper” is the Economist. Don’t get me wrong. Like the approach of the British debate teams, my colleague and I faced in college, the faces change but the tone and attitude persists. Too bad we won more debate competitions against British teams than we lost, and it sure wasn’t because we were smarmy.
Not surprisingly I read “Too Many Adults Are Absolutely Clueless.” Yep, the same fingerprints appeared on this story. The main idea is that “adults” — you are supposed to insert fat Americans for this token — are stupid. Okay, I am not sure this is news to anyone who has bumped into students in America. I grew up in a bubble. Lucky me. Then for one year I found myself teaching in a US high school in a “poor section” of a Midwestern city.
Guess what?
On day one I figured out that the majority of the students in my charge were not what my life experiences taught me to view as “smart.” When was this? Last month, five years ago? Nope. I did this one year’s work in 1968 when I switched from the PhD program at Duquesne University to the University of Illinois so I could study with one of my mentors. As I recall, the students in the program which I was hired to “manage” and teach was called “The CWS Program” or Cooperative Work Study Program. I won’t go into details, but here is a quick snapshot of what I learned almost a half century ago:
- The students, aged 14 to 17, came from homes in which two parents were exceptions
- The students were unable to read the provided text books and, as my team learned, the sports pages and funny papers were out of reach.
- Many of the students came to school to fool around or to fill time when there weren’t more interesting things to do in the area in which they lived or slept
- The students in the CWS program were there because they had brushes with the law and were released to their parent or guardian from a detention center if they agreed to go to school and participate in the CWS program. (Translation: Most were guilty of minor crimes like shoplifting clothes and food. A few were guilty of assault and gang related activities)
- The academic level of these students —- buckle up, buttercup — was not significantly different from the performance of the students in the non-CWS population of this particular high school.
Now in the spring of 2025 I learn that the Economist, a publication which has been fighting to keep up its paid circulation to blue-chip consultant types and their ilk, has discovered that American students and young adults lack basic skills.
What? Where have you newspaper ostriches been for the last 50 years? Perhaps the folks at the down-home Economist have not visited Blackpool, England, lately. That’s an example of what’s shaking in the intellectually thriving atmosphere of the sceptered isle.
The write up asks:
Need to change a tyre or file your taxes? In America, “adulting” courses can help
The courses won’t help. The problems in education and “adulting” have anchored their roots deep in society. A couple of classes will not fill in what is missed when:
- Families remain intact
- Kids and adults have enough to eat and a place to sleep
- A supporting, learning-oriented social environment.
Today’s information flows have simply accelerated the erosion of learning “basic things” like threading a needle, putting oil in a vehicle, and understanding that credit card bills have to be paid with actual fiat currency. (Visa UK is keen on hooking a credit card to crypto currency, so good luck with that.)
Now why doesn’t the Economist have a larger and fast growing subscriber base? The number of individuals who can make sense of the articles is a tiny percentage of a large set of potential subscribers. Like learning how to fix a broken dish, semi-esoteric writing is too much work.
If you want to reach people, make a short video and post it on TikTok. If you want to catch my attention, write about something that is not exactly a recycling of the modern equivalent of ancient history.
China has a lot more fun pointing out the problems of the US with its aggressive China Smart, US Dumb content marketing than writing about a class in Austin, Texas.
Net net: Yeah, grow up. Plus I would add, “Write about fixing up Blackpool while considering who is clueless.”
Stephen E Arnold, April 24, 2025
Smart Software Exploits Direct Tuition Payment. Sure, the Fraud Is Automated
April 22, 2025
No AI, just the dinobaby himself.
The Voice of San Diego published “As Bot Students Continue to Flood In, Community Colleges Struggle to Respond.” The write up is one of those recipes that “real” news outfits provide to inform their readers about a crime. When I worked through the article, my reaction was, “The process California follows for community college student assistance is a big juicy sandwich on a picnic table in the park on a warm summer day.”
Will the insects flock to the sandwich?
Absolutely. Plus, telling the insects where the sandwich is and the basics of getting their mandibles on that sandwich does one thing: Provide an easy-to-follow set of instructions for a bad actor to follow.
The write up says:
Kevin Alston, a business professor who has taught at Southwestern for nearly 20 years, has stumbled across even more troubling incidents. During a prior semester, he actually called some of the students who were enrolled in his classes but had not submitted any classwork. “One student said ‘I’m not in your class. I’m not even in the state of California anymore’” Alston recalled. The student told him they had been enrolled in his class two years ago but had since moved on to a four-year university out of state. “I said, ‘Oh, then the robots have grabbed your student ID and your name and re-enrolled you at Southwestern College. Now they’re collecting financial aid under your name,’” Alston said.
The opportunity for fraud is a result of certain rules and regulations that require that financial aid be paid directly to the “student.” Enroll as a fake student and get a chunk of money. The more fake students that apply and receive aid, the more money the fake students receive.
California appears to be taking steps to reduce the fraud.
Several observations:
- A basket of rules and regulations appear to create this fraud opportunity
- Smart software in the hands of clever individuals allows the bad actors to collect money. (I am not sure how one cashes multiple checks made out to a fake person, but obviously there are ways around this problem. Are those nifty automatic teller machine deposits an issue?)
- The problem, according to the write up, has been known and getting larger since 2021.
I must admit that I think about online fraud in the hands of pig butchering outfits in the Golden Triangle. The fake student scam sounds like a smaller scale operation. Making a teacher the one who must identify the fake student does not seem to be working.
Okay, let’s see what the great state of California does to resolve this problem. Perhaps the instructors need to attend online classes in fraud detection, apply for financial aid, and get an extra benefit for this non-teaching work? Will community college teachers make good cyber investigators? Sure, especially those teaching history, social science, and literature classes.
Stephen E Arnold, April 22, 2025
Survey: Kids and AI Tools
March 12, 2025
Our youngest children are growing up alongside AI. Or, perhaps, it would be more accurate to say increasingly intertwined with it. Axios tells us, "Study Zeroes in on AI’s Youngest Users." Write Megan Morrone cites a recent survey from Common Sense Media that examined AI use by children under 8 years old. The researchers surveyed 1,578 parents last August. We learn:
"Even the youngest of children are experimenting with a rapidly changing technology that could reshape their learning and critical thinking skills in unknown ways. By the numbers: One in four parents of kids ages 0-8 told Common Sense their children are learning critical thinking skills from using AI.
- 39% of parents said their kids use AI to ‘learn about school-related material,’ while only 8% said they use AI to ‘learn about AI.’
- For older children (ages 5-8) nearly 40% of parents said their child has used an app or a device with AI to learn.
- 24% of children use AI for ‘creative content,’ like writing short stories or making art, according to their parents."
It is too soon to know the long-term effects of growing up using AI tools. These kids are effectively subjects in a huge experiment. However, we already see indications that reliance on AI is bad for critical thinking skills. And that research is on adults, never mind kids whose base neural pathways are just forming. Parents, however, seem unconcerned. Morrone reports:
- More than half (61%) of parents of kids ages 0-8 said their kids’ use of AI had no impact on their critical thinking skills.
- 60% said there was no impact on their child’s well-being.
- 20% said the impact on their child’s creativity was ‘mostly positive.’
Are these parents in denial? They cannot just be happy to offload parenting to algorithms. Right? Perhaps they just need more information. Morrone points us to EqualAI’s new AI Literacy Initiative but, again, that resource is focused on adults. The write-up emphasizes the stakes of this great experiment on our children:
‘Our youngest children are on the front lines of an unprecedented digital transformation,’ said James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense.
‘Addressing the impact of AI on the next generation is one of the most pressing issues of our time,’ Miriam Vogel, CEO of EqualAI, told Axios in an email. ‘Yet we are insufficiently developing effective approaches to equip young people for a world where they are both using and profoundly affected by AI.’
What does this all mean for society’s future? Stay tuned.
Cynthia Murrell, March 12, 2025
Who Knew? AI Makes Learning Less Fun
February 14, 2025
Bill Gates was recently on the Jimmy Fallon show to promote his biography. In the interviews Gates shared views on AI stating that AI will replace a lot of jobs. Fallon hoped that TV show hosts wouldn’t be replaced and he probably doesn’t have anything to worry about. Why? Because he’s entertaining and interesting.
Humans love to be entertained, but AI just doesn’t have the capability of pulling it off. Media And Learning shared one teacher’s experience with AI-generated learning videos: “When AI Took Over My Teaching Videos, Students Enjoyed Them Less But Learned The Same.” Media and Learning conducted an experiment to see whether students would learn more from teacher-made or AI-generated videos. Here’s how the experiment went:
“We used generative AI tools to generate teaching videos on four different production management concepts and compared their effectiveness versus human-made videos on the same topics. While the human-made videos took several days to make, the analogous AI videos were completed in a few hours. Evidently, generative AI tools can speed up video production by an order of magnitude.”
The AI videos used ChatGPT written video scripts, MidJourney for illustrations, and HeyGen for teacher avatars. The teacher-made videos were made in the traditional manner of teachers writing scripts, recording themselves, and editing the video in Adobe Premier.
When it came to students retaining and testing on the educational content, both videos yielded the same results. Students, however, enjoyed the teacher-made videos over the AI ones. Why?
“The reduced enjoyment of AI-generated videos may stem from the absence of a personal connection and the nuanced communication styles that human educators naturally incorporate. Such interpersonal elements may not directly impact test scores but contribute to student engagement and motivation, which are quintessential foundations for continued studying and learning.”
Media And Learning suggests that AI could be used to complement instruction time, freeing teachers up to focus on personalized instruction. We’ll see what happens as AI becomes more competent, but we can rest easy for now that human engagement is more interesting than algorithms. Or at least Jimmy Fallon can.
Whitney Grace, February 14, 2025
A New Year Alert: Americans Cannot Read
January 1, 2025
The United States is a large country with a self-contained nature. Because of its monolith status, the United States is very isolated. The rest of the world views the US as a stupid country and NBC News shares evidence to that statement: “Survey: Growing Number Of U.S. Adults Lack Literacy Skills.” The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported that the gap between high-skilled readers and kid-skilled immensely increased from 19% in 2017 to 28% in 2023.
The substantial difference doesn’t bode well for the US, but when it is compared to the countries the US faired well. The US’s scores stayed even according to the Survey of Adult Skills. This test surveyed over two dozen countries and many of them are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The survey measures the working-age population’s literacy, number, and problem-solving skills. Most of the countries, including European and Asian countries, had comparable results to the US.
The greatest surprises were that Japan saw a 4% increase from 5% to 9%, England remained the same at 17%, Singapore jumped from 26% to 30%, Germany saw a spike from 18% to 20%. The biggest changes were in South Korea and Lithuania. Both countries went from the teens to thirty percent or higher.
This doesn’t mean the US and other nations are idiots (arguably):
“Low scores don’t equal illiteracy, [NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr] said — the closest the survey comes to that is measuring those who could be called functionally illiterate, which is the inability to read or write at a level at which you’re able to handle basic living and workplace tasks.
Asked what could be causing the adult literacy decline in the U.S., Carr said, ’It is difficult to say.’”
The Internet and lack of reading is the cause, dingbat!
Whitney Grace, January 1, 2025
The US and Math: Not So Hot
January 1, 2025
In recent decades, the US educational system has increasingly emphasized teaching to the test over niceties like critical thinking and deep understanding. How is that working out for us? Not well. Education news site Chalkbeat reports, "U.S. Math Scores Drop on Major International Test."
Last year, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study assessed over 650,000 fourth and eighth graders in 64 countries. The test is performed every four years, and its emphasis is on foundational skills in those subjects. Crucial knowledge for our young people to have, not just for themselves but for the future of the country. That future is not looking so good. The write-up includes a chart of the rankings, with the U.S. now squarely in the middle. We learn:
"U.S. fourth graders saw their math scores drop steeply between 2019 and 2023 on a key international test even as more than a dozen other countries saw their scores improve. Scores dropped even more steeply for American eighth graders, a grade where only three countries saw increases. The declines in fourth grade mathematics in the U.S. were among the largest in the participating countries, though American students are still in the middle of the pack internationally. The extent of the decline seems to be driven by the lowest performing students losing more ground, a worrying trend that predates the pandemic."
So we can’t just blame this on the pandemic, when schools were shuttered and students "attended" classes remotely. A pity. The results are no surprise to many who have been sounding alarm bells for years. So why not just drop perpetual testing and return to more effective instruction? It couldn’t have anything to do with corporate interests, could it? Naw, even the jaded and powerful must know the education of our youth is too important to put behind profits.
Cynthia Murrell, January 1, 2024
Smart Software and Knowledge Skills: Nothing to Worry About. Nothing.
July 5, 2024
This essay is the work of a dinobaby. Unlike some folks, no smart software improved my native ineptness.
I read an article in Bang Premier (an estimable online publication with which I had no prior knowledge). It is now a “fave of the week.” The story “University Researchers Reveal They Fooled Professors by Submitting AI Exam Answers” was one of those experimental results which caused me to chuckle. I like to keep track of sources of entertaining AI information.
A doctor and his surgical team used smart software to ace their medical training. Now a patient learns that the AI system does not have the information needed to perform life-saving surgery. Thanks, MSFT Copilot. Good enough.
The Bang Premier article reports:
Researchers at the University of Reading have revealed they successfully fooled their professors by submitting AI-generated exam answers. Their responses went totally undetected and outperformed those of real students, a new study has shown.
Is anyone surprised?
The write up noted:
Dr Peter Scarfe, an associate professor at Reading’s school of psychology and clinical language sciences, said about the AI exams study: “Our research shows it is of international importance to understand how AI will affect the integrity of educational assessments. “We won’t necessarily go back fully to handwritten exams, but the global education sector will need to evolve in the face of AI.”
But the knee slapper is this statement in the write up:
In the study’s endnotes, the authors suggested they might have used AI to prepare and write the research. They stated: “Would you consider it ‘cheating’? If you did consider it ‘cheating’ but we denied using GPT-4 (or any other AI), how would you attempt to prove we were lying?” A spokesperson for Reading confirmed to The Guardian the study was “definitely done by humans”.
The researchers may not have used AI to create their report, but is it possible that some of the researchers thought about this approach?
Generative AI software seems to have hit a plateau for technology, financial, or training issues. Perhaps those who are trying to design a smart system to identify bogus images, machine-produced text and synthetic data, and nifty videos which often look like “real” TikTok-type creations will catch up? But if the AI innovators continue to refine their systems, the “AI identifier” software is effectively in a game of cat-and-mouse. Reacting to smart software means that existing identifiers will be blind to the new systems’ outputs.
The goal is a noble one, but the advantage goes to the AI companies, particularly those who want to go fast and break things. Academics get some benefit. New studies will be needed to determine how much fakery goes undetected. Will a surgeon who used AI to get his or her degree be able to handle a tricky operation and get the post-op drugs right?
Sure. No worries. Some might not think this is a laughing matter. Hey, it’s AI. It is A-Okay.
Stephen E Arnold, July 5, 2024
Is There a Problem with AI Detection Software?
July 1, 2024
Of course not.
But colleges and universities are struggling to contain AI-enabled cheating. Sadly, it seems the easiest solution is tragically flawed. Times Higher Education considers, “Is it Time to Turn Off AI Detectors?” The post shares a portion of the new book, “Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning” by José Antonio Bowen and C. Edward Watson. The excerpt begins by looking at the problem:
“The University of Pennsylvania’s annual disciplinary report found a seven-fold (!) increase in cases of ‘unfair advantage over fellow students’, which included ‘using ChatGPT or Chegg’. But Quizlet reported that 73 per cent of students (of 1,000 students, aged 14 to 22 in June 2023) said that AI helped them ‘better understand material’. Watch almost any Grammarly ad (ubiquitous on TikTok) and ask first, if you think clicking on ‘get citation‘ or ‘paraphrase‘ is cheating. Second, do you think students might be confused?”
Probably. Some universities are not exactly clear on what is cheating and what is permitted usage of AI tools. At the same time, a recent study found 51 percent of students will keep using them even if they are banned. The boost to their GPAs is just too tempting. Schools’ urge to fight fire with fire is understandable, but detection tools are far from perfect. We learn:
“AI detectors are already having to revise claims. Turnitin initially claimed a 1 per cent false-positive rate but revised that to 4 per cent later in 2023. That was enough for many institutions, including Vanderbilt, Michigan State and others, to turn off Turnitin’s AI detection software, but not everyone followed their lead. Detectors vary considerably in their accuracy and rate of false positives. One study looked at 14 different detectors and found that five of the 14 were only 50 per cent accurate or worse, but four of them (CheckforAI, Winston AI, GPT-2 Output and Turnitin) missed only one of the 18 AI-written samples. Detectors are not all equal, but the best are better than faculty at identifying AI writing.”
But is that ability is worth the false positives? One percent may seem small, but to those students it can mean an end to their careers before they even begin. For institutions that do not want to risk false accusations, the authors suggest several alternatives that seem to make a difference. They advise instructors to discuss the importance of academic integrity at the beginning of the course and again as the semester progresses. Demonstrating how well detection tools work can also have an impact. Literally quizzing students on the school’s AI policies, definitions, and consequences can minimize accidental offenses. Schools could also afford students some wiggle room: allow them to withdraw submissions and take the zero if they have second thoughts. Finally, the authors suggest schools normalize asking for help. If students get stuck, they should feel they can turn to a human instead of AI.
Cynthia Murrell, July 1, 2024
Now Teachers Can Outsource Grading to AI
June 10, 2024
This essay is the work of a dinobaby. Unlike some folks, no smart software improved my native ineptness.
In a prime example of doublespeak, the “No Child Left Behind” act of 2002 ushered in today’s teach-to-the-test school environment. Once upon a time, teachers could follow student interest deeper into subject, explore topics tangential to the curriculum, and encourage children’s creativity. Now it seems if it won’t be on the test, there is no time for it. Never mind evidence that standardized tests do not even accurately measure learning. Or the psychological toll they take on students. But education degradation is about to get worse.
Get ready for the next level in impersonal instruction. Graded.Pro is “AI Grading and Marking for Teachers and Educators.” Now teachers can hand the task of evaluating every classroom assignment off to AI. On the Graded.Pro website, one can view explanatory videos and see examples of AI-graded assignments. Math, science, history, English, even art. The test maker inputs the criteria for correct responses and the AI interprets how well answers adhere to those descriptions. This means students only get credit for that which an AI can measure. Sure, there is an opportunity for teachers to review the software’s decisions. And some teachers will do so closely. Others will merely glance at the results. Most will fall somewhere in between.
Here are the assignment and solution description from the Art example: “Draw a lifelike skull with emphasis on shading to develop and demonstrate your skills in observational drawing.
Solutions:
- The skull dimensions and proportions are highly accurate.
- Exceptional attention to fine details and textures.
- Shading is skillfully applied to create a dynamic range of tones.
- Light and shadow are used effectively to create a realistic sense of volume and space.
- Drawing is well-composed with thoughtful consideration of the placement and use of space.”
See the website for more examples as well as answers and grades. Sure, these are all relevant skills. But evaluation should not stop at the limits of an AI’s understanding. An insightful interpretation in a work of art? Brilliant analysis in an essay? A fresh take on an historical event? Qualities like those take a skilled human teacher to spot, encourage, and develop. But soon there may be no room for such niceties in education. Maybe, someday, no room for human teachers at all. After all, software is cheaper and does not form pesky unions.
Most important, however, is that teaching is a bummer. Every child is exceptional. So argue with the robot that little Debbie got an F.
Cynthia Murrell, June 10, 2024
The Evolution of Study Notes: From Lazy to Downright Slothful
April 22, 2024
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
Study guides, Cliff Notes, movie versions, comic books, and bribing elder siblings or past students for their old homework and class notes were the how kids used to work their way through classes. Then came the Internet and over the years innovative people have perfected study guides. Some have even made successful businesses from study guides for literature, science, math, foreign language, writing, history, and more.
The quality of these study guides range from poor to fantastic. PinkMonkey.com is one of the average study guide websites. It has some free book guides while others are behind a paywall. There are also educational tips for different grades and advice for college applications. The information is a little dated but when it is combined with other educational and homework help websites it still has its uses.
PinkMonkey.com describes itself as:
“…a "G" rated study resource for junior high, high school, college students, teachers and home schoolers. What does PinkMonkey offer you? The World’s largest library of free online Literature Summaries, with over 460 Study Guides / Book Notes / Chapter Summaries online currently, and so much more. No more trips to the book store; no more fruitless searching for a booknote that no one ever has in stock! You’ll find it all here, online 24/7!”
YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms are also 24/7. They’re also being powered more and more by AI. It won’t be long before AI is condensing these guides and turning them into consumable videos. There are already channels that made study guides but homework still requires more than an AI answer.
ChatGPT and other generative AI algorithms are getting smarter by being trained on sets that pull their data from the Internet. These datasets include books, videos, and more. In the future, students will be relying on study guides in video format. The question to ask is how will they look? Will they summarize an entire book in fifteen seconds, take it chapter by chapter, or make movies powered by AI?
Whitey Grace, April 22, 2024
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