Your AI Coffee Break #4
A weekly roundup of AI news, updates, reviews and random facts brought to you by the founders of Contented AI, Hannah and Lucy.
Welcome to the fourth edition of the Contented AI newsletter. Our goal is to ensure you're always kept in the loop with the latest developments in AI, without feeling overwhelmed or left behind.
That's why we've crafted a snappy, action-packed weekly read that's perfect to enjoy with your favourite beverage—coffee, tea, juice, or even a glass of red (perhaps not for morning tea though) 🍷
Sit back, relax, and let us do the AI heavy lifting for you.
This week we cover
🚀 Great week at Contented AI - we are continually inspired
🎒 The role of AI in education and assessment
👍 A paraplegic walks with AI tech
🙃 The ChatGPT Classroom Controversy
👎 Fake AI-generated image of explosion near Pentagon spreads on social media
📽️Charlie Chaplin and how he might have leveraged AI
👥 Contented AI updates: Our recent adventures and collaborations
🛠️ Product of the week: MidJourney
💡 Prompt/tip of the week: Choosing a tone - in this case Dr Seuss
Update from Lucy 👋
It happened to be education week here at Contented. A highlight was the workshop Hannah and I had the privilege of leading at a school in Canterbury.
We were truly lucky to connect with a group of amazing teachers who were all excited and open-minded about exploring the potential of AI in their classrooms.
The workshop was a two-way street of learning. We introduced the teachers to the practical world of AI, explaining its potential applications. But we also learned so much from them, about their daily challenges, where they see AI fitting in their classrooms, and their openness to innovation.
Seeing that spark in their eyes as they realised how much AI could enhance their teaching methods is something Hannah and I both will cherish for a long time.
To cap it off, I had an enlightening conversation with Dr. Hassan Khosravi, founder of AI education platform RiPPLE and Associate Professor at the University of Queensland. His insight into how universities are leveraging AI brought a whole new perspective (read more below).
Reflecting on these experiences, it’s totally reinforced my notion that the best type of innovation isn't just the big ideas and breakthroughs. It's about delivering practical solutions to those who need them the most.
And in this case, it means equipping teachers with tools that can help them better manage their workload, allowing them to focus on what they love most: inspiring and nurturing young minds.
I am so, so optimistic about the incredible possibilities AI brings to our education systems.
Lucy
1/2 of Contented AI
Connect with me on Linkedin 👋
Teaching or Tutoring? Exploring the Role of AI in Education 🎒
Dr. Hassan Khosravi shared valuable insights into the potential role of AI in education, particularly focusing on the crucial aspect of assessment.
In today's era of generative AI, where students can easily generate essays or find answers at the click of a button, rethinking assessment becomes a significant challenge.
"What does assessment mean in the age of generative AI, where students can effortlessly produce essays in minutes or rely on AI applications for quiz answers? How can we redefine assessment to equip students with the AI literacy they need? It's an ongoing challenge, not just for UQ, but globally."
In response, Hassan suggested a fresh approach—continuous AI-powered assessment systems. These systems engage students throughout the semester, capturing their progress through ongoing interactions and conversations.
Not only does this approach offer a comprehensive view of a student’s learning, it goes beyond traditional one-time evaluations.
During our conversation, Hassan shared his extensive experience in teaching large classes, a common challenge faced by many educators. With thousands of students and numerous tutors in a single course, the need for more efficient teaching methods became apparent. This realisation inspired Hassan's journey with RiPPLE, his AI educational platform.
When discussing the vision for RiPPLE, Hassan’s passion really shone:
"We envision an AI tutor that would be empathetic, using a Socratic method, asking students questions to encourage self-improvement rather than simply providing answers. This shift towards interactive dialogues and interfaces is vital for fostering genuine learning experiences, moving away from 'copy-paste' exercises. How can we guide learning to prioritise the process rather than just the end result?"
Suggesting that AI is not simply about accelerating processes, but about nurturing creativity and critical thinking. It's about shifting the focus of learning from the destination to the journey itself. The challenge, as Hassan put it so well, is to develop a system where humans and AI can cooperate, but human intellect still remains in the driver's seat.
Reflecting on our conversation with Hassan, it becomes clear that the potential role of AI in education extends far beyond process automation.
By revolutionising assessment practices, reducing administrative burdens, and fostering an environment that promotes creativity and critical thinking, AI has the power to transform education systems.
News stories: Good, bad and the wacky 📰
👍 Good - A paraplegic walks with AI tech
Paralysed man walks again thanks to 'digital bridge' that wirelessly reconnects brain and spinal cord. Neurosurgeons and neuroscientists in Switzerland worked on the digital bridge, helping a man to walk, climb stairs and ramps, and stand at a bar with friends. They hope the technology could one day be used to restore arm and hand functions too.
👎 Bad - Fake AI-generated image of explosion near Pentagon spreads on social media
An AI-generated image that appeared to show an explosion next to a building in the Pentagon complex circulated on social media platforms, causing concerns over misinformation generated by AI. The image was a fake, but its spread, including through shares by verified accounts, resulted in a brief dip in the stock market.
🙃 Wacky - The ChatGPT Classroom Controversy
Jared Mumm, an agricultural sciences and natural resources instructor at Texas A&M University–Commerce suspected that students had used ChatGPT to write their papers for his animal science course. In response, he announced that all students would receive an "incomplete" for the course.
Mumm's method for detecting AI-generated writing was flawed. He had copied the students' work into ChatGPT and asked the bot whether it had written the text. Unfortunately, ChatGPT is not designed to detect AI-generated writing, ‘hallucinated’, and said they were all AI-generated. One student, who had already graduated, had her diploma withheld because of this situation, according to a Reddit post.
Cool people doing cool things ⭐️
We have recently been chatting to Olivia Dyet who is building Empathix- an AI platform that aims to turbo charge talent and acquisition.
Olivia is super passionate founder who is absolutely determined to solve the problems in recruitment that she faced in her previous HR career. It’s so exciting when you meet someone who is driven to solve a pain point and also comes with endless enthusiasm.
Empathix aims to cut down the time and cost of finding great talent. You can follow Olivia’s journey by connecting on LinkedIn
"People are our most valuable asset. It should be a lot simpler than it currently is to find the best people and grow your business. Empathix does just that by leveraging strategy and AI."
This Week’s AI-ified Character: Charlie Chaplin
ChatGPT, how would Charlie Chaplin have used AI if it were available?
Certainly! Charlie Chaplin, the maestro of creativity, ingeniously employs ChatGPT to fuel his artistic pursuits. He engages in lively conversations with the model, extracting a treasure trove of fresh ideas for his films. With ChatGPT's assistance, Chaplin hones his comedic writing, crafting clever dialogues and refining jokes. He harnesses the model's virtual presence to practice and perfect his physical comedy, describing actions and gestures in vivid detail. Additionally, he taps into ChatGPT's vast knowledge to conduct research on various subjects, ensuring historical accuracy and cultural authenticity in his work.
Contented updates 👥
Our recent adventures and collaborations
We are doing an exciting piece of work with an HR Consulting firm who have aspirations of growth and impact. The focus is on streamlining document creation, improving the client experience and improving productivity within the business. One of the goals for our client is to spend an extra hour in bed with her kids on the weekend because she isn’t racing to her laptop on a Saturday morning. This goal, as well as many other, will soon be a reality for her.
We continue to expand our client base- one exciting area for us is looking at Charities and how we help them with funding applications.
Contented AI is moving to new office space- we are so excited to share more on this!
Product of the week 🛠️
MidJourney
What can it do?
Midjourney AI is a powerful tool for artistic image creation. You don't need to be able to draw or have an artistic background. Simply describe what you want to see and let the MidJourney do the rest.
Why do we love it?
MidJourney is amazing at crafting images from descriptive narratives, its talent lies in its ability to bring abstract ideas to life. We brought Hannah’s daughter Alice’s startup idea Cool-O-Wave to life (a microwave that cools as well as heats).
Another perfect example of MidJourney’s incredible images are the viral 'Royal Coronation Afterparty' images.
How to get started?
It’s a little tricky, but here’s a great step-by-step guide.
Prompt/tip of the week 💡
Do you want to create fun content for kids at home or within your classroom as a teacher? Why not have activities set in the tone of your favourite author or poet?
For this prompt we have chosen to use the tone of Dr Seuss- a classic children’s book series that brings a smile to kids (and adults) young and old. Change the prompt to suit you by adding in different options in the brackets.
Write a poem for my class that covers [vowel phonics] in the tone of [Dr Seuss] on the topic of [space travel].
Turn this poem into a [15 minute] fun activity to do at the end of a school day that [encourages gratitude]. Thanks for reading
If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to us at hello@contentedai.com, or hit subscribe below if you’d like this newsletter weekly.