Um artigo que marcou a ciência da educação e as empresas que facturam milhares de milhões a "roubar" os clientes do sistema educativo

https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2023/04/univcambridge-oportunidades-desafios-e.html

Na sequência do post supra sobre as opiniões de dois investigadores da Faculdade de Educação, da universidade de Cambridge, sobre as oportunidades, os desafios e as possibilidades do ChatGPT na educação e também na sequência de um artigo posterior que foi publicado na The Economist, há alguns meses atrás, sobre a capacidade do ChatGTP poder contribuir para baixar os custos da educação, e também do conteúdo do post sob o título "Yuval Noah Harari responde à pergunta: "Não sabendo que profissões vão existir (no futuro), o que é que a escola deve ensinar no presente ?"  https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2023/05/yuval-noah-harari-answers-question-not.html  vale a pena ler o artigo ontem publicado na prestigiada revista The Economist, o qual aborda o papel da Inteligência Artificial na transformação do sistema educativo. Reproduzo abaixo, a cor azul, a penúltima frase desse artigo: 

"...An influential paper from 1984 by Benjamin Bloom, an educational psychologist, found that one-to-one tutoring both improved the average academic performance of students and reduced the variance between them. AI could at last make individual tutors viable for the many..." https://www.economist.com/business/2024/01/11/ai-can-transform-education-for-the-better

Nele se faz referência a um artigo influente publicado numa revista científica na década de 80, embora tenha ficado a faltar o nome desse artigo ou a revista em que foi publicado. Porém uma pesquisa na Scholar Google, revela que se trata de um artigo que foi publicado na revista Educational Researcher, com o título "The 2 sigma problem: The search for methods of group instruction as effective as one-to-one tutoring" e que nessa base de dados já recebeu até ao momento milhares de citações. Uma outra pesquisa, também efectuada hoje, na base Scopus, sobre o mesmo artigo, revela que aquele já recebeu quase 1400 citações e também que há mais de 20 anos, consecutivos, ainda continua a ser citado, todos os anos, em várias dezenas de publicações, o que faz prova de uma excepcionalidade, que tem sido capaz de resistir ao teste do tempo.

Voltando novamente ao artigo da revista The Economist, nele se faz referência a empresas que actuam no mercado das aulas particulares online, como a empresa  Chegg, cujo valor saltou de 5 mil milhões de dólares no início de 2020 para 12 mil milhões de dólares um ano depois ou a Byju’s, cujo valor disparou para uma avaliação privada de 22 mil milhões de dólares em março de 2022. 

No entanto, esse artigo não analisa de que forma o impacto da IA generativa pode contribuir para um aumento do valor das referidas empresas. Neste aspecto particular é importante ter presente que um relatório de 68 páginas da McKinsey refere que a influência da IA generativa na produtividade mundial tem o potencial para contribuir com um valor económico anual que pode variar entre 2600 biliões e 4400 biliões de dólares (trilions na versão original).

PS - Ainda sobre a forma como as empresas andam a "roubar" milhões de alunos ao sistema de ensino tradicional, vale a pena revisitar o post de Maio de 2022, quando ainda não existia o omnipotente e omnipresente ChatGPT, de título "Os diplomados pelo Imperial College que nunca puseram um pé no Imperial College" https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2022/05/os-diplomados-pelo-imperial-college-que.html

An exceptionally cited article and the companies profiting billions by "stealing" customers from the education system

https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2023/04/univcambridge-oportunidades-desafios-e.html

In continuation of the earlier post discussing insights from two researchers at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, regarding ChatGPT's potential in education—alongside a subsequent article featured in The Economist a few months ago highlighting ChatGPT's capacity to reduce education costs https://pachecotorgal.com/2023/06/17/the-economist-how-chatgpt-could-help-teachers-and-lower-the-cost-of-college/  — it is noteworthy to explore the latest article published in The Economist. Released yesterday, the article explores the pivotal role of Artificial Intelligence in reshaping the educational landscape. Highlighted below in blue is the penultimate sentence from this insightful piece.

"...An influential paper from 1984 by Benjamin Bloom, an educational psychologist, found that one-to-one tutoring both improved the average academic performance of students and reduced the variance between them. AI could at last make individual tutors viable for the many..." https://www.economist.com/business/2024/01/11/ai-can-transform-education-for-the-better

The text refers to an article from the 1980s authored by an emeritus professor. Despite the absence of the article´s name and journal details, a subsequent search using Scholar Google revealed that it was published in Educational Researcher under the title "The 2 sigma problem: The search for methods of group instruction as effective as one-to-one tutoring." 

This particular article has garnered thousands of citations in Scholar Google and nearly 1400 citations in the Scopus database, sustaining its influence for over two decades and affirming its enduring significance.

Returning to The Economist article, it explores the surge in the value of companies in the online private classes market. Notable examples include Chegg, whose worth catapulted from $5 billion in early 2020 to $12 billion a year later, and Byju's, reaching a staggering private valuation of $22 billion in March 2022. 

Nevertheless, the article fails to explore how the impact of generative AI can contribute to a rise in the value of these companies. It's important to acknowledge that a comprehensive 68-page report by McKinsey suggests that the transformative influence of generative AI on productivity has the potential to contribute an annual economic value ranging from $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion.

PS - Also, consider visiting the post titled "Yuval Noah Harari answers the question: "Not knowing what professions will exist (in the future), what should schools teach in the present?" https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2023/05/yuval-noah-harari-answers-question-not.html

Unraveling the ethical abyss of dream women and AI-generated relationships

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2024/01/08/5-unexpected-ways-generative-ai-may-change-your-daily-life/?sh=6de923c615ef

Yesterday, Forbes released a compelling article delving into the diverse transformative impacts that generative AI is having on our day-to-day experiences. You can find the link above for an insightful read. The piece, found in the final section titled “Dating And Sex In The Generative AI Era,” delves into the transformative impact of generative AI on dating and intimacy. Notably, it discusses DreamGF, a platform utilizing generative AI to craft virtual dream women.

I conducted a swift Google search, which led me to an additional article discussing this platform, revealing that just three months ago, it boasted an impressive 10,000 paying users. Cumulatively, the platform has facilitated the creation of over six million virtual girlfriends. https://bernardmarr.com/artificial-intimacy-how-generative-ai-can-now-create-your-dream-girlfriend/

Given the multifaceted nature of this issue with numerous consequences, I decided to seek advice from an expert. During my search, I recalled that on January 1st, 2024, the Editor-in-Chief of Photonics Focus authored an interesting paper. In this publication, she cited Professor Tyler Cowan of George Mason University (renowned for the book “Creative destruction: How globalization is changing the world's cultures” that so far garnered almost 1000 citations) who eloquently expressed the following: “Think of GPTs not as a database but as a large collection of extremely smart economists, historians, scientists, and many others whom you can ask questions,”

Having heeded his sound advice I turn to ChatGPT for insights into the myriad consequences associated with the burgeoning business of the platform DreamGF. Continue reading for the enlightening response provided by ChatGPT below.

PS -  In the aforementioned context, specifically concerning the image opening this post—obtained during a search related to the infamous Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory—While it may not faithfully portray the notorious mass murder, my interest is nonetheless aroused by its paradoxical intertwining of extreme evil and profound beauty. This connection resonates with the repugnant face hypothesis (entailing the perpetual concealment of every human's face) that I initially put forth on December 25, 2020  https://pacheco-torgal.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-repugnant-face-pandemic.html 

ChatGPT: The emergence of virtual girlfriends, particularly in the context of services like DreamGF mentioned in the provided text, raises significant ethical concerns, and one of the most disturbing issues is the potential association with pedophilia. Here's an elaboration on the problems related to this issue:

1. Exploitative Possibilities: The ability to design and interact with virtual characters, including specifying physical attributes and personality traits, creates a platform that could potentially be exploited for pedophilic content. Users might attempt to create virtual characters resembling minors, engaging in inappropriate and harmful interactions.
2. Child Exploitation and Legal Implications: If the platform allows users to create virtual characters that appear underage, it may inadvertently contribute to the creation and dissemination of explicit content that exploits minors. This raises serious legal concerns related to child exploitation, as many jurisdictions have strict laws against the production and distribution of such material.
3. Erosion of Moral and Ethical Standards: The normalization of virtual relationships with characters designed to represent minors could contribute to an erosion of societal moral and ethical standards. It may desensitize individuals to the severity of engaging in inappropriate and exploitative behaviors, potentially leading to a blurring of boundaries between virtual and real-world actions.
4. Impact on Users' Perception of Relationships: Engaging in virtual relationships that involve explicit content with characters designed to appear underage may impact users' perceptions of appropriate relationships. It could contribute to distorted views of consent, boundaries, and the understanding of what constitutes healthy interactions, especially if users become desensitized to explicit content involving virtual minors.
5. Heightened Risk of Abuse: The potential for creating explicit content involving virtual characters designed to resemble minors poses a heightened risk of abuse, as individuals with pedophilic tendencies might misuse such platforms for their gratification. This could lead to the normalization and perpetuation of harmful behaviors.
6. Increased Difficulty in Law Enforcement: Platforms allowing the creation of explicit virtual content present challenges for law enforcement. Distinguishing between virtual depictions and actual illegal activities can be complex, potentially making it more difficult to identify and address cases of pedophilia or child exploitation.
7. Negative Societal Impacts: The availability of services like DreamGF, if not regulated responsibly, could contribute to negative societal impacts by fostering the creation and consumption of explicit content involving virtual minors. This, in turn, may have repercussions on cultural norms, attitudes toward relationships, and the overall well-being of communities.
8. Lack of Accountability: If platforms like DreamGF do not implement stringent measures to prevent the creation of explicit virtual content involving minors, it may indicate a lack of accountability on their part. This lack of responsibility could result in serious harm to vulnerable individuals and contribute to the normalization of harmful behaviors.