Off My Chest
RULES:
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I'm a non-traditional student and I have used AI to help with math.
Let me explain something. When I try to do a general search for help on how to solve a problem the top results in most search engines aren't the old Academy style videos of guides anymore. They are sponsored links, paid tutoring websites, and YouTube videos of people playing at influencer instead of teaching.
The same is true for researching most given topics.
I have tried to use AI ethically but I know it's problematic.
When trying to find sources the old academic websites still hold but finding those websites I had to ask AI with a crafted prompt. I couldnt remeber archive names in my freshmen year. At times, I did ask it to suggest papers from academic sources on topics. I then used my own critical analysis to decide the sources biases and value for the topic and explored around further by looking at the the author's source list. The alternative is usually to be given biased and over simple news articles, Often opinion pieces.
I see the problems with AI but a boolean search only works so well these days.
Going back to math, I could watch a video, but it's sitting through precious time when an AI will answer my question directly and explain the reason I was wrong.
Even if I'm trying to use a math website that actually answers the problem, there will be pop-ups (on the phone) useless text (as if it's a damn recipe website) and possibly mathematical syntax that is above my course level.
Using the AI I can have that syntax explained.
I do understand that AI is a problem and I hate HATE getting info from a middle man like this but I complete understand why a student would.
I also see how tempting it is to just skip those extra steps and take an answer, but I know it also is often wrong. My verification steps and further digging ensures that the AI is returning valid info.
But why do students do it? Because the internet today is a slop bog that they have to navigate on their phones. Often with minimal protection from ads and other useless garbage.
Tangentially related, I searched "how to animate bowing" on DDG today and got a page of results and a long line of video recommendations about shooting bows, bouncing balls, and "are u sure u didn't mean BOWLING?"
I died of cringe.
I get that DDG is based on bing. I ended up just saving random anime gifs of "worship bowing" and will have to use these for reference instead :<
More than a decade ago, search engines used to be so... Good? Like, I didn't even have to add "reddit" to the end of my search string, searching for obscure stuff used to be so easy. A study on how the human body & weight shifts with a bowing motion shouldn't be so hard to find, but today's search engine algorithms are so trash, it just could not.
Sounds like you need to go read some books on etiquette, there are several different types of bowing across different cultures and periods. Then take the instructions and video some people performing the action.
But yeah search is shit now.
Wolfram alpha is much better for the purpose you describe than a generative LLM. The “show steps” button costs $5/mth.
I’ve experimented with it for math (was stuck on a Project Euler problem, it did give me the algorithm but absolutely flounced it’s sample calculation), and it can get some stuff right, but provide an incorrect explanation. Or fuck up a numerical calculation entirely.
Depending on what you are pursuing a degree in, another thing to keep in mind is that math conceptually builds on itself. If you are just trying to survive a math credit it’s like Cliff’s Noting a book for a paper - nothing will stick for you long term using AI.
What class is it? PatrickJMT is good if you’ve gone to calculus.
WA was too inacurrate for me to use when i was college, asking the actual question was found on some sites word for word.