In this episode of ChatEDU (AI Surrender - Professors Throw in the Towel on Writing?) Matt and Liz discuss the controversial notion of AI taking over writing tasks. The episode deep dive is informed by the work of two professors from Carnegie Mellon University who are saying the quiet part out loud, with an AI tool aimed at assisting students with the writing process.

Fist in the news:

1. Mechanistic Interpretability - Matt explains the concept of mechanistic interpretability, likening it to an MRI for language models. This technique, championed by AI safety-focused company Anthropic, helps unpack the black box nature of AI models to understand how they generate their outputs and address issues like bias and hallucinations.

2. AI Tutors in Education - Liz revisits the topic of AI tutors, emphasizing the benefits they bring to students (particularly in math and science). These AI tools can serve as accessible and affordable tutors, helping students understand complex problems step-by-step as a means to increase educational equity.

Short Stack Chat Back - The episode concludes with an AI supported take on the Beneath the Surface topic.

Have a question or comment? Please email Matt and Liz at chatedu@edadvance.org