PD for AI: 5+ Podcasts to Learn about ChatGPT
You’ll likely have heard about ChatGPT in some capacity, whether it’s from a newspaper, a TV show, a blog, social media or colleagues. ChatGPT is an AI-based tool — that is, a tool using artificial intelligence — that can answer complex text prompts. This doesn’t sound very novel, until you realize that ChatGPT is able to mimic papers, reports and other forms of assessment.
What does this mean? You can explain a concept to ChatGPT, then ask it to write a five-paragraph essay, then ask it to write it at a lower or higher level, then ask it to expand the paper with additional references, and so on.
While it’s not the only AI tool around, ChatGPT has gained some notoriety, particularly in how it might impact the classroom. Concerns range from how it might encourage cheating to how it affects assessment design. Some teachers are already banning it — while still others are embracing it.
If you’d like to learn more about ChatGPT but can’t fit reading another article into your busy schedule, try checking out a podcast. Podcasts are great for professional development, or PD.
Here are 5+ podcasts that discuss ChatGPT and AI, offering basic explainers as well as complex thoughts on how to utilize the tool for learning.
1. NPR: “‘Everybody Is Cheating’: Why This Teacher Has Adopted an Open ChatGPT Policy ”
This short, five-minute listen explores how ChatGPT is being used in early 2023 in one professor’s classroom. It focuses on professor Ethan Mollick, who embraces AI tools rather than banning them. As he points out, being able to use AI tools is an “emerging skill.” For more of his thoughts, he has also been featured on one of NPR’s All Things Considered segments.
2. Teaching in Higher Ed: “ChatGPT and Good Intentions in Higher Ed”
This podcast episode not only looks at how ChatGPT is being used in the context of higher education, but also considers how OpenAI, the chatbot’s parent company, navigates tech ethics. If you are concerned with the ethical implications of AI — the “good intentions” — this podcast will likely offer food for thought. From cheating to datasets, there’s a lot to cover!
3. The Creative Classroom with John Spencer: “We Can’t Predict How A.I. Will Change Learning #ChatGPT”
Less focused on the micro and more on the macro, this podcast considers ChatGPT in the context of educators’ moral panic. Should there be concerns over cheating? Is AI more common than you might think? This podcast suggests looking critically at AI tools as a way of contextualizing the humanity of writing.
4. Today, Explained: “Art-ificial Intelligence”
If you’re curious about AI and how it fits into creative work in general, this Vox podcast goes in-depth into generative and AI-assisted art. The episode covers ChatGPT as well as tools you might not have heard of. Learning about AI in its broader form can help you better understand how it might be utilized in your classroom for more than just text generation.
5. Tea for Teaching: “ChatGPT”
This podcast engages with the idea of using ChatGPT in the classroom, particularly in writing-heavy courses like those in higher education. How can ChatGPT be used to help students learn to write better? How can it encourage students to make writing fun? Exploring nuance from current use cases to how AI connects to copyright, this is a great overall listen.
If you have a bit of extra time after all those podcasts and want to read about ChatGPT and education, check out this post by Conrad Wolfram, author of The Math(s) Fix. This will no doubt be a topic to consider for the rest of 2023 and beyond!
About the blogger:
Jesika Brooks
Jesika Brooks is an editor and bookworm with a Master of Library and Information Science degree. A lifelong learner herself, she has always been fascinated by the intersection of education and technology. She edits the Tech-Based Teaching blog (and always wants to hear from new voices!).
