Thread

Tutoring company tells parents to save their money and 'use AI instead'

142 points · 233 comments · theanonymousone

saadn92 · 1790263455 · focus · HN ↗
I'm all for saving money where you can, but these models really aren't great for learning because they love giving you answers and it's so easy to get an answer, but the process to get to the answer is how you actually learn. Unless you put guardrails in place to actually learn, I don't think this advice is good.
1. jgbuddy · 1790263839 · focus · HN ↗
  disagree- i used it for the last few years of coursework preparing for exams. If you give it context (i'm studying for an exam, do not give hints unless asked, your objective is to help my understanding) it is incredibly helpful. This isn't advice, it's a company going out of business.
  1. wat10000 · 1790264107 · focus · HN ↗
    Depends heavily on the tutee. If it’s someone highly motivated looking for some guidance like you, I could see it working really well. If it’s a kid who would rather be scrolling through Instagram and needs an authority figure to keep them on track, it’s not going to work.
    graemep · 1790289278 · focus · HN ↗
    If the kid would rather be scrolling instagram then solve the underlying problem. They will not have a good life if they will only do anything constructive when forced to by an authority figure.
    wat10000 · 1790338472 · focus · HN ↗
    Oh yes, how silly of me, I should push the button that magically solves the problem.
    graemep · 1790376330 · focus · HN ↗
    Bring kids up is not easy. There is no magic button, but its far better to solve a problem, even if its difficult, than to work around it. Forcing unengaged kids to study is like quick fixes to software that runs up technical debt,or like avoiding proper of maintenance of machinery when you it will cause more long term damage.
    wat10000 · 1790387082 · focus · HN ↗
    And if you can’t fix it? Or you can but it takes a while?
  2. xhkkffbf · 1790264112 · focus · HN ↗
    I agree with you and not the OP.
    I find it very easy to engage in a Socratic dialog with the AI. If I ask it, it will actually quiz me and carry on a tutoring session. And it doesn't mind if I ask dumb questions.
    micromacrofoot · 1790265215 · focus · HN ↗
    yes, similar experience... you can ask the same question in 10 different ways until you understand it and AI doesn't care
    I've walked away from colleagues trying to explain things similarly because if you're not getting it after a few attempts you're going to hit a wall of their ability to explain, their patience, time, etc
    jgbuddy · 1790430819 · focus · HN ↗
    This is the biggest thing. The dumbest questions or sometimes the most important.
  3. LollipopYakuza · 1790264217 · focus · HN ↗
    I have recently realised that people actually don't know how to prompt. They use AI "raw" and don't understand how the question can have a drastic impact on the result, let alone using skills or system prompts.
    Learning new topics or skills is a very good example, I had the same experience as you with Claude when I learned a new language.
    philipwhiuk · 1790265110 · focus · HN ↗
    Maybe some argue it's ASI but for me AGI requires that the AI understand what you're trying to ask rather than require you to carefully engineer a prompt.
    pixl97 · 1790265778 · focus · HN ↗
    "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?"
    If a random person comes up and asks you a malformed question how do you answer? What's worse if what if the question is not actually malformed in some contexts and because you're a wizard that has massive amount of contextual information there are plenty of right answers for the 'wrong' question you just asked.
    In schools classrooms tend to avoid unlimited exploration as it would take unlimited time. On your AI prompt the next thing you ask could be anything, anything at all. Just exactly how is the AI supposed to know if you're an idiot?
    spwa4 · 1790285924 · focus · HN ↗
    Continuing the great tradition of claiming that any machine, and especially any AI, unless it takes over literally everything, is worthless. Or in the words of Pablo Picasso:
    "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." (he was not joking by the way)
    Of course, if computers DO threaten to take over literally everything, then people are even more scared and react aggressively, as demonstrated in this 1939 article describing IBM's vocoders:
    "The Pedro Peril" (the first AI that actually talked back was nicknamed Pedro, and described as "the latest and most fearful gadget from IBM", the journalist's conclusion was to suggest Pedro be deported as he would spread propaganda and maybe even become a dictator) (unsigned Washington Post editorial, 1939)
    Here's Pedro in action: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAyrmm7vv0" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAyrmm7vv0
    wongarsu · 1790292070 · focus · HN ↗
    If you're starting a fresh session the AI has no context at all beyond your prompt (and the generic system prompt). It isn't psychic, it can't know if you want a straight answer, an elaborate explanation or an interactive teaching lesson. You have to actually say what you want
    I'm not a huge fan of prompt engineering or elaborate skills that are longer than a couple sentences. But you have to give the AI context. The more context the better
    bigstrat2003 · 1790306894 · focus · HN ↗
    That isn't really a good defense. An intelligent creature (i.e. a human) will recognize that it lacks context, and ask probing questions to get more information. An LLM just boldly goes down a path with only a fraction of the information, which is yet another proof they aren't actually intelligent.
    LollipopYakuza · 1790342034 · focus · HN ↗
    "Thinking" models do that, now. They either search for the context (token usage goes brrr...) or ask for more information before going further.
    nkrisc · 1790265567 · focus · HN ↗
    Which isn’t surprising at all if you turn off your adblocker and look at how these AI chat products are marketed to the general public. They’re presented as all-knowing oracles that can deliver exactly what you want with only the vaguest and briefest of prompts.
  4. zffr · 1790266997 · focus · HN ↗
    It really depends on how you are using AI. If you simply use it to get the answers to homework you won't really learn. If you use it to figure out the topics you need to learn, and to identify/close gaps in your understanding then it is a very useful tool for learning.
  5. fma · 1790295019 · focus · HN ↗
    That's great but you're not an 8 year old.
    jgbuddy · 1790430904 · focus · HN ↗
    How many eight-year-olds tutor themselves?

Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.