GenAI Begins with Me

Introduction
On the 20th of August, 2024, I attended a transformative workshop titled “GenAI Begins with Me” conducted by AI Singapore. This workshop was an eye-opener, providing practical insights into the applications of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in everyday life. As an educator deeply involved in the world of teaching, especially focusing on students with dyslexia, I found many of the topics covered in this workshop particularly relevant. This report aims to highlight the key learnings from the workshop and explore how these insights can be integrated into educational practices to benefit both educators and students.

 

1. Self-Introduction and Personalized Learning Assistants
The workshop began with an exercise that had participants create fun, short self-introductions using GenAI tools. This simple exercise underscored the potential of AI in creating personalized learning experiences. By generating unique introductions, participants could see firsthand how AI can be used to craft messages that resonate on a personal level.

Relevance to Education:
In an educational context, personalized learning assistants powered by GenAI can tailor educational content to individual students’ needs. These assistants can help create customized lesson plans, provide individualized feedback, and even serve as a personal tutor for students who may need extra support. For educators, this technology means less time spent on administrative tasks and more focus on teaching and student interaction.

 

 

2. Positive Impact: Rewriting, Summarizing, and Translation
One of the critical components of the workshop was demonstrating how GenAI could be used to rewrite, summarize, and translate text. These exercises showcased how AI could take complex information and present it in a more accessible format, making it easier for users to understand.

Relevance to Education:
These tools are particularly beneficial in a classroom setting, where educators often need to present complex information in a digestible manner. GenAI can assist in rewriting academic content to match the reading levels of different students, summarizing lengthy materials to provide quick reviews, and translating educational resources into multiple languages, catering to a diverse student population. This adaptability can help bridge language barriers and support non-native speakers in their learning journey.

 

 

3. Sentiment Analysis
The workshop introduced sentiment analysis, a process where AI determines the emotional tone behind a series of texts. This technology can be employed to analyze student feedback, gauge the general sentiment in classroom discussions, or even monitor the emotional well-being of students through their interactions.

Relevance to Education:
For educators, sentiment analysis provides a powerful tool to understand students’ feelings and attitudes toward different subjects or teaching methods. By analyzing written feedback, educators can gain insights into what works and what doesn’t, allowing them to adapt their teaching strategies accordingly. Furthermore, sentiment analysis can be a valuable tool in identifying students who may be struggling emotionally, enabling early intervention and support.

 

 

4. AI Art Creation
The workshop provided hands-on experience with AI-driven art creation, where participants were guided to create images based on specific prompts. This exercise highlighted the creative potential of AI and how it can serve as a collaborative tool for artistic expression.

Relevance to Education:
Incorporating AI into art education can inspire students to explore new creative avenues. AI can be used to create visual aids that enhance learning experiences, develop interactive art projects, or even assist students in bringing their artistic visions to life. For students with learning disabilities, AI art tools can provide alternative ways of expressing their understanding and engagement with the material, supporting a more inclusive learning environment.

 

 

5. Mental Wellness and AI
A notable part of the workshop focused on using AI to develop mental wellness plans. The participants explored AI applications that help in creating personalized wellness strategies, including stress management and emotion regulation techniques.

Relevance to Education:
The mental well-being of students and educators is crucial for a productive learning environment. AI can assist in monitoring stress levels and providing real-time recommendations to manage anxiety. For instance, AI-driven mental wellness apps can offer students coping strategies tailored to their individual needs, encouraging mindfulness and emotional regulation. This is particularly important for students with dyslexia, who might experience heightened stress levels due to the challenges they face in traditional learning environments.

 

 

6. Crafting Effective Prompts
The workshop introduced different techniques for crafting AI prompts, emphasizing clarity, context, and specificity. Participants learned how to create prompts that guide AI to produce meaningful and relevant outputs. The key to effective AI prompt crafting lies in understanding how to frame questions or requests in a way that directs the AI toward a desired outcome.

Prompt Crafting Techniques:

Zero-Shot Prompting:
This technique involves providing no specific examples or context, just a straightforward task or question. For instance, a prompt like, “Explain the benefits of using AI in education” asks the AI to generate a response based on general knowledge without prior context.

Example for educators:
“Write a short essay on how technology has impacted education.” This allows students to reflect independently, encouraging a range of responses.

One-Shot Prompting:
In this technique, the AI is given one example before the task. This helps the AI understand the expected structure or format. For instance, if you ask the AI to write a creative story and provide one example first, the AI will follow the style of that example.

Example for educators:
“Write a short poem about nature, like this example: ‘The sun shines bright, in the sky so high, birds take flight, as clouds pass by.’ Now write your own poem about the ocean.” This method is useful for guiding students on how to frame their responses.

Few-Shot Prompting:
Here, the AI is provided with multiple examples before being asked to generate a response. This technique ensures the AI produces outputs that align closely with the given samples.

Example for educators:
“Here are three examples of persuasive essays: [Provide examples]. Now, write an essay on why environmental conservation is important.” This technique helps students see patterns and models of effective writing.

Incremental Prompting:
This method involves building up the prompt step-by-step. Each prompt adds new layers of information or constraints, leading to a more refined and specific result.

Example for educators:
Start with, “Write a short story about a trip to a museum.” Then follow up with, “Now add a twist where the characters discover something unexpected.” Finally, refine the prompt with, “Include details about how the discovery changes the characters’ perspective on art.” This guides students through a structured thought process, helping them gradually build complex narratives or responses.

Open-Ended Prompts:
These prompts encourage broad, creative responses, leaving room for interpretation. Open-ended prompts are excellent for fostering creativity and critical thinking as they allow students to explore topics in their own way.

Example for educators:
“How do you think AI will change the future of education?” This encourages students to reflect deeply on the subject, leading to varied, thoughtful responses.

Specific Prompts:
These prompts target precise information, requiring concise and focused responses. Specific prompts are ideal when educators are looking for factual or direct answers.

Example for educators:
“What are the three main benefits of AI in education?” This ensures that students stay focused on specific points, making it a good tool for reinforcing key concepts.

Relevance to Education:
Educators can use these techniques to formulate questions and tasks that elicit thoughtful and critical responses from students. By integrating AI into classroom activities, teachers can encourage students to engage in higher-order thinking. For example, students could be tasked with generating creative writing pieces or solving problems using AI prompts, fostering a collaborative learning experience between students and AI tools. These techniques can also help teachers guide discussions, assess comprehension, and introduce students to new ways of thinking about problems.

 

 

7. Ethical AI Decision-Making

One of the most engaging segments of the workshop was the ethical principles game and discussions on ethical AI decision-making. Case studies were presented, prompting participants to reflect on issues such as fairness, transparency, privacy, and accountability. These principles are critical as AI becomes more integrated into various industries, including education.

Example 1: AI in Grading Systems
One case study discussed the use of AI for automated grading in schools. While AI can speed up the grading process, the challenge lies in ensuring fairness. What if the AI disproportionately penalizes certain writing styles or overlooks creative solutions that deviate from traditional structures? Ensuring fairness means that educators must regularly audit AI decisions and ensure that the algorithms are trained on diverse student responses to prevent bias.

Example 2: Deepfake Technology in Schools
Another example revolved around the use of deepfake technology by students. Imagine a scenario where a student uses AI tools to create a humorous deepfake video of a teacher. While it may seem harmless, this raises ethical concerns about consent, privacy, and potential harm to the teacher’s reputation. Educators need to create clear policies around the use of AI tools, ensuring that students understand the potential ethical implications of misusing such technologies.

Example 3: Data Privacy in AI-Powered Learning Platforms
An important ethical issue in AI relates to data privacy. When AI-powered platforms collect and analyze student data to personalize learning experiences, it is essential to ensure that the data is used responsibly and securely. In education, this means implementing strong data protection measures and being transparent with students and parents about how their data is used.

Relevance to Education:
Teaching students about the ethical implications of AI is critical as we move into an era where technology is deeply intertwined with everyday life. Educators can use similar case studies to provoke discussions in the classroom, encouraging students to think critically about the ethical use of technology. This not only raises awareness but also prepares students to become responsible digital citizens.

 

 

8. GenAI and Personal Development
The final challenge of the workshop involved using GenAI to create a self-introduction video, emphasizing the role of AI in personal branding and professional development. Participants saw how GenAI could enhance self-presentation, making it more engaging and impactful.

Relevance to Education:
For students preparing to enter the workforce, understanding how to use GenAI for personal branding is invaluable. Educators can incorporate these tools into career development programs, teaching students how to create compelling resumes, portfolios, and introductory videos that stand out. This skill set will not only boost their confidence but also increase their employability in a competitive job market.

 

 

Conclusion
The “GenAI Begins with Me” workshop provided invaluable insights into the practical applications of Generative AI, highlighting its potential to transform educational practices. From enhancing personalized learning to supporting mental wellness and ethical decision-making, the workshop demonstrated how AI could be a powerful ally in the classroom. As educators, embracing these technologies is not just about staying current; it’s about enriching the educational experience for our students, preparing them for a future where AI plays a pivotal role. By integrating these learnings into our teaching methods, we can foster an inclusive, innovative, and ethically sound learning environment that empowers every student to succeed.

 

Article written by:
Soofrina Binte Mubarak
Lead Educational Therapist, Dyslexia Association of Singapore
RETA Fellow