Month: October 2024

I recently had a conversation with two of my friends who are engineers here in Vernon. As I shared my curiosity with them about Artificial Intelligence, they suggested I connect with their brother in the U.K. to discuss the topic. They said he was a bit of an expert on the topic, and they weren’t kidding.

On October 9th, I was connected with Patrick Murray on a Zoom meeting. Patrick has an interesting background of experience, working initially as a nuclear design engineer and currently working in data analytics and Ai. Patrick is Head of Strategy and Data at Razor, and helps “support clients in driving innovation and empowering their workforce.” 

I had a range of questions prepared for Patrick. I was most curious about how he uses artificial intelligence, how he sees it as a potential valuable tool for the future generation, and specifically, what skills and tools he views as important. Here is a summary of our conversation:

1. Could you please share what you can about how you got into the work you do, what it is you do to help people use Ai to enhance their workplace?

Patrick responded by sharing his experience in nuclear design, which was interesting to him and gave him experience, but that he remarked was “slow.” He went on to share that his interests guided him to artificial intelligence and data collection. Now, he works for a company that helps maximize efficiency from an operations standpoint. This “data driven manufacturing” is helping people in, “Making more stuff in an efficient way. Help extract and centralize that data, to give operators and managers a complete view of what’s happening on their shop floor to see what’s happening on their floor.” (P. Murray, personal communication, October 9, 2024) He also works in textile manufacturing, making sure materials don’t have defects. Ai is good at pattern recognition and that’s why it’s a good tool in analyzing manufacturing efficiency.

---

2. How do you see AI and data analytics transforming industries beyond tech, such as education? How important do you think it is that students in highschool (in a more senior level) be introduced into Ai skills?

Patrick spoke to the application of using generative Ai in a course his company recently put on. The Ai helped to create a draft, taking a two to three week process into a two to three day process. In addition to the activity saving time, it also provided adaptations for an adult with dyslexia in tailoring the content to their specific needs. This can be viewed as an opportunity in the world for personalized learning to take place, and tailoring education without massive amounts of time or money. I believe this has huge capacity in our education system to help our divergent learners in applying their individualized education plans in the classroom. Teachers have high numbers of students in their classrooms, and differentiated instruction is a complex and challenging skill that takes both time and teacher experience to apply. I believe that artificial intelligence tools can help teachers to create adaptations in a more efficient way. I also believe it has the potential to put those adaptations in the hands of the learner, which will lead to more self advocacy, self understanding and self confidence in the learner.

Patrick and I also spoke about the challenges that educators are facing right now with the unregulated use of artificial intelligence tools like Chat GPT, saying:

“There’s a real challenge for educators in schools to provide coursework and assignments that people aren’t just going to stick into Chat GPT and get an answer from. …This kind of tooling has become so ubiquitous, I mean I use it every single day at work, and it helps me a lot. I think it would be wrong to prevent students from learning, getting the experience of how to use this kind of technology, but it would have to be for assignments and coursework where they’re finding it enriching in other ways.”

(P. Murray, personal communication, October 9, 2024)

Patrick goes on to explain that there are many perspectives on what artificial intelligence is and many misconceptions. Although it’s becoming more human-like in its existence, artificial intelligence is just a tool. It’s important for students to understand how Ai and Chat GPT function as tools. He said it’s a strong brainstorming tool, but future users need a base level of understanding of the technology behind it.

---

3. Given your experience in nuclear engineering and data analytics, what advice would you give to students about pursuing diverse fields and then merging them with AI?  What direction would you say is an ‘insulated’ career that students could direct their efforts towards?

I really appreciated Patrick’s response to this question. He highlights that we still need students to have knowledge base, skills, and trades. The sense I get from educators and the public is that they are fearful that artificial intelligence is going to lead to a complete dismantling of skill acquisition in education. Patrick’s response helped me discover that we aren’t looking at a dissolution of acquiring skills and knowledge, but rather shifting the skills to be used in a different way. Using his experience of engineering, the problem-solving skills he developed helped him to adapt later in other career paths. “Think about the skills that you’re learning, and that opens up so many more windows.” Taking a life-long learning approach is what Patrick suggests. This speaks to the importance of our student’s “soft skills” and the core and curricular competencies in the British Columbia curriculum. Patrick goes on to contextualize Ai in the workforce and gives his perspective on its integration:

“Ai is going to disrupt industries. But I am consider myself a technology optimist and I don’t subscribe to the same view that it’s going to come in now and replace everything. I have still yet to see a piece of Ai generated art that’s moved me, in any realistic way. But where I think Ai sings, and is really a benefit, is when you combine it with a human that has the creativity, that has the ability to see the shades of grey in the world, Ai is really good at finding patterns but it sees the world in black and white. And I think you need that human to round it out. Industries are going to change, but I don’t see it coming and sweeping everything to one side.”

---

(P. Murray, personal communication, October 9, 2024)

---

4. What key skills do you believe students should learn early on to effectively understand and work with AI?

Patrick highlighted several key skills that I will apply to my Artificial Intelligence Course. I thought it easiest to see these skills in a list:

• “Do something with the data, and plot it out, find the signal in the noise
• Understanding the data
• Understanding the problem
• Architect a solution
• Apply the Ai in an effective way
• Problem solving
• Communication
• Tell that story
• Understanding the limitations, knowing when to use it and when not to”
• (P. Murray, personal communication, October 9, 2024)

8. What AI tools or projects would you recommend for high school students to gain hands-on experience with machine learning or natural language processing?

I am glad I asked this question. I don’t have a huge knowledge base of what specific Ai tools to include in my course and this gives me relevancy and a jumping-off point for which tools to eventually explore with students:

• “Python
• Pandas
• Data science
• Toolboxes
• Machine learning libraries“

Projects:

• Great data sets
• Data science website
• Passion projects
• Interest – based – personalized learning
• Semantic learning
• Why do kids hate school – this concept of thinking / problem  / curious

Although Patrick is not an educator in schools, he does educate business owners and colleagues on Artificial Intelligence, and his experience reflects a wide breadth of knowledge on the topic. Patrick speaks to the importance of students tapping into their passions and interests; reiterating the importance of personalized learning and the potential for Ai to assist in project-based learning. Speaking to his own personal experience in his passion for football, Patrick expresses that these technological skills can grow organically from curiosity.

References:

Patrick. (n.d.). Patrick – Head of Data, Analytics and AI at Razor. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickrazor/?trk=people-guest_people_search-card&originalSubdomain=uk

The Sketch Show UK. (n.d.). English class [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfVLTKktt3A

In searching for a theoretical framework that can shed light on the direction of my project, I was pointed in the direction of “instrumentalism.” I found this article, “Technology Artifacts, Instrumentalism, and the Humanist Manifestos Toward an Integrated Humanistic Profile for Technical Communication” (Knievel, 2006, p. 65). Knievel covers a lot of territory in his article, outlining the difference between the humanities and humanism. The humanities are academic disciplines and humanism is a philosophy that employs human reasoning. Humanism informs the humanities but they are different, says Knievel. He also speaks to technology, as it was initially employed in education and how its since grown. Knievel speaks to the historical view that humanities and technology were considered opposing ideologies. By the 1970’s, technical communication was becoming a respected area, and universities recognized that students needed to be trained in writing. As the article defines technology tools such as the pencil, pen and paper, the different definitions of technology has changed drastically and continues to evolve.

Reimagining

A colleague and I recently shared our thoughts on teaching English during this monumental shift of Ai use. I had a few laughs as I shared, “and we thought ‘Grammarly’ was bad.” In our classrooms, we are (all) struggling with students using Ai tools, when we’ve asked them not to. We want them to develop their understanding of how to write without the tool. My colleague shared, “All of us are undergoing a paradigm shift especially the humanities and reimagining what are our classrooms look like.” We struggle with the paradox of not wanting our students to “cheat” and use it, with the understanding that they will need literacy in digital form, too. How do we balance these two?

Knievel shares various perspectives on technology through his article, including one that suggests technology must remain outside the human values and can, “actively and insidiously portending its ruin (Brantlinger, 2000; Noble, 1997; Postman, 1992)” (Knievel, 2006, p. 77). In our summer course, we were encouraged to approach opposing ideologies in culture as less of an “either/or” and more of an “and.” Perhaps we can recognize the differences in technology and the humanities, specifically the study of English in our classrooms, and also recognize that technology is not going anywhere. We may consider them part of a permanent, shared culture. “Looking outside the traditional parameters of English studies can help us construct a humanistic ethos for technical communication that better articulates technical communication’s relationship to technology and makes a case not for “spanning” the distance between the cultures of technology and literature and the humanities, respectively, but rather for integrating them” (Knievel, 2006, p. 67).

Photo by Megan O’Hanlan on Unsplash

Another friend shared his analogy of Ai with me last year. He asked, “If you had to chop down a tree, would you use an ax or a chainsaw?” The obvious answer is… “A chainsaw!” Well, of course you would. It’s faster, easier, and much more efficient. But. What if the chainsaw breaks down? Well, then you would need to know how to use the ax. I since then use this analogy with my students. It is our job to teach you how to use BOTH; to teach the comprehension of texts, the pulling out their own ideas, and to share those thoughts in a cohesive, concise and clear way. I want them to know how to use Modern Language Association to cite their evidence and understand that using someone else’s ideas needs to be recognized as work that isn’t their own. I also want them to see the masterful abilities of Ai and prepare them for jobs that will utilize these technologies. It’s a balance.

“In this view, technology becomes the embodiment of an ideology whose most cherished tenet is the advancement of human interests. Rather than being separate from humanist ideology, then, technology is central to it.“

(Knievel, 2006, p. 75)

I don’t believe that educators or the public comprehends the enormity of change that is coming our way in education and the workforce due to Ai and automation. I see a wave of change coming and I want to prepare my students for their future. With any historical change, it’s important to visit the past. I found Knievel’s visit to various theories and perspectives, enriching and also hopeful. Currently, my colleagues rightfully express both hesitancy and interest in these rapid changes to technology. I also feel that polarity in my pedagogy and look to recognize the potential of Ai integration into my classroom with a critical, but hopeful, lens. Knieval suggests that technology cannot exist without humanism, and I would continue this in saying that the humanities can no longer exist without technology. Our English classrooms must adapt to the integration of technology or we will be left behind.

“We would no longer need to rationalize or apologize for our allegiances to the computer, to industry, and to the corporate world. Instead, we would open these arenas for analysis, recognizing them and the values they indicate as ways in which humans have chosen and continue to choose to map their existence. We can proceed then to look at technologies as manifestations and conditioners of values. We can, within English studies, encourage balanced, pragmatic critique with an honest, nonpolemical review of the desirable consequences that emerge from technology rather than participate only in ideologically charged deconstruction that yields no consequential change. Finally, we can participate in developing new humanists who see an integrated world, who combine a critical vision of technology with hope.”

(Knievel, 2006, p. 83)

References:

Knievel, M. (2006). Technology Artifacts, Instrumentalism, and the Humanist Manifestos: Toward an Integrated Humanistic Profile for Technical Communication. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 20(1), 65–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651905281040