My biased enthusiasm for generative AI, clearly articulated

I understand the serious ethical concerns many have raised about generative AI. These are important issues that deserve thoughtful debate. I believe that I know something about these concerns and I know the critical position I’m meant to take as an academic working at the intersection of education and technology. I’ve spent 15 years in that position and I think I know what that side of the argument looks like.

But here’s the thing. Right now I have very little interest in an academic critique of generative AI.

Because even with all the ethics concerns that come with generative AI, I still think it represents an enormous, incredible, positive, beautiful opportunity for learning at scale.

Here are a few of my beliefs around generative AI:

• While existing foundation models are proprietary and closed, we’re already seeing very good open-source models in the wild, and these open-source models will keep getting better.
• We will see a massive proliferation of models that will serve a wide range of values and philosophies. I want my models to be open-source and for me to have the ability to fine-tune them. I want to have some models for critical thinking, some for creativity, some for rationality, and so on.
• You’ll have massive models that run in the cloud that you’ll pay for, and tiny models that run on your phone or other small devices. As well as mid-range models that institutions will use for in-house operations.
• Just like you get to choose software and hardware today based on your personal values, you will have the same options with foundation AI models.
• Costs will continue coming down, and speed and utility will keep on going up.
• The environmental impact of training and implementing AI models will not only be reduced, I think they will eventually give us insight into how to reduce climate change in other domains i.e. they will have a net benefit on the climate crisis.

As inconvenient, expensive, biased, opaque, and problematic as generative AI is, I can’t think of another time in human history when so many people around the world have access to advanced expertise of the kind that’s possible with generative AI. And I don’t see any reason for why we should assume it’s not going to keep getting better.

I believe that generative AI is the first step towards accelerated learning at a scale and cost that makes all our previous attempts (think, universities) look like a rounding error.

I know what a bold statement that is.

But given what I believe in the list of statements above, the conclusion seems incontrovertible. If generative AI is the rising tide that lifts all boats, and it has the potential to enhance society through mass education, then I think we need to push for it’s integration into everything, even while there are still open questions about the risks and trade-offs.

I don’t claim to have all the answers, but based on what I’ve experienced in my own practice, I’m very optimistic about the potential of this technology to expand access to advanced learning.

These models aren’t perfect. Not even close. But I think it’s misguided to hold back on the opportunities to accelerate learning at massive scale, across all sectors in society.

Of course, I might be wrong. I may have a ton of blind spots that mean I can’t see what’s obvious to everyone else. But I don’t think I’m arguing from a position of ignorance. I am aware of the counterarguments.

I just don’t think they’re relevant, given what I believe is at stake.