The Rise of Hybrid Educators

Abstract

Highlights

We live in a technology-driven age, so the education field must rationally consider chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

Faced with increasing application of AI in education, teachers should be reflective educators, and students should be self-educators.

AI chatbots will evolve into a new prosthesis before being institutionalized into the fabric of school education.

Reflective educators, institutionalized educators, self-educators foreshadow the future rise of hybrid educators.

The recent emergence of ChatGPT has caused a major stir in the field of education, which has always been wary of new technology. Indeed, the field of international educational technology grapples with “Jobs’ question”—the question posed by Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, regarding why computers had transformed practically all fields except school education (Isaacson, 2011). The education field had never reacted as quickly and strongly as it has to ChatGPT. Educators around the world are reacting to the new technology with enthusiasm about its potential or sounding the alarm over the impending disruption of education. Some feel uneasy and apprehensive that the technology can do postgraduate-level work, bringing the value of pursuing a postgraduate degree into question. Some are dismissive, viewing ChatGPT in the same light as the computers used in mathematics classes. Others are alarmed and strongly opposed to the use of ChatGPT. For instance, on January 23, 2023, the New York City Department of Education banned ChatGPT from school devices and networks within its jurisdiction. ¹

However, the use of learning tools by students is hardly novel: Computers, networks, and mobile phones have long been a feature in the classroom. Technologies similar to ChatGPT have been applied in the educational field for several years. For example, in the United States, Photomath, a software program for solving mathematical problems, has been in use since 2014. This is also true with respect to learning tools such as Quizlet, an application for creating and categorizing online flashcards, and Chegg, an online learning service and application. Similarly, China is home to technologies like Zuoyebang. This raises the following question: Why is ChatGPT different? ChatGPT utilizes a powerful algorithm to complete text generation tasks based on pre-2021 data. Able to produce texts in various styles catering to different purposes, ChatGPT is more technologically advanced, stylistically diverse, and user-friendly than other text generation technologies.

We live in a technology-driven age, wherein societies and lives are propelled forward by technology. As German philosopher Martin Heidegger (2002) wrote in Off the Beaten Track, this world is that of technology; this age is that of technology. Meanwhile, French philosopher of technology, Jacques Ellul (2018), foresaw the victory of technology, predicting that contemporary society would be a technology-mediated one. Decades have since passed, and the momentum of technological development has only grown stronger. In The Question Concerning Technology, Heidegger (2013) argued that the essence of technology is not actually technological and that if we remain chained to the technological, the path to the essence of technology would be severed at the outset. Rather, what lies behind a technological problem is a philosophical one. Therefore, we should think rationally with regard to chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

Teachers should be reflective educators. Currently, the question of whether teachers will be replaced by AI chatbots has become a subject of widespread and heated debate. In my opinion, teachers are not easily replaced. That said, the advent of ChatGPT presents teachers with an opportunity to re-think a number of fundamental questions regarding their career and profession. The problem is not so much that AI chatbots pose challenges and threats but that teachers lack true understanding of and fail to reflect on education and learning in the face of novel technologies and tools. French philosopher of contemporary technology Bernard Stiegler (1998) postulated that the relationship between humans and technology is that of “différance,” in which both parties are in an ongoing process of generation and reinvention. Therefore, the question of what will replace whom is a moot point. Although teachers continue to serve in the role of educators, the emergence of AI chatbots has complicated the ecosystem of education. For example, the “what”—that is, the content—of teaching has become more complicated. While AI chatbots will eventually liberate students from learning by memorization, today's education system continues to place heavy focus on such content. To become reflective educators, teachers need to contemplate how students should learn in an age where learning methods are undergoing radical change. To promote the transformation and improvement of teaching and learning, teachers should evaluate why they teach what they teach and whether they are teaching to promote critical thinking or attain competency.

The trust between teachers and students has also been complicated by the emergence of ChatGPT. As adults and evaluators, teachers are adherents of novel learning tools because they are helpful. As minors, learners, and those being evaluated, students yearn for learning tools but find that these are often perceived by adults as bad and even deceitful. Poking fun at this issue, Fortune magazine asked, “Is ChatGPT the end of trust?” ² Students and teachers now face the challenge of rebuilding trust: in the role of teachers as authorities of knowledge on the one hand, and in students completing assignments independently on the other. Teachers are reflective educators and have given educators a reflective connotation.

AI chatbots will evolve into institutionalized educators. According to Stiegler, humans are flawed beings that depend on technology; to humans, technology is not a negative factor of fallenness but a positive construction of history. Stiegler described human dependence on technology, that is, something external, as “prosthesis.” In this respect, teachers are beings with limitations characterized by prostheticity (Stiegler, 1998). From blackboards to textbooks and teaching aids, teachers use a variety of tools as prostheses. As in the case of past prostheses, AI chatbots will evolve into a new prosthesis before being institutionalized into the fabric of school education. When this happens, they will become educators by virtue of their intelligence, inclusivity, responsiveness, interactive generative nature, and scalable cognition. Indeed, AI chatbots have the potential to become outstanding educators that can promote students’ personalized development by facilitating individualized instruction adapted to their needs.

Students should be self-educators. Against the backdrop of the alienation of education as a result of technological rationality, German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer (2001) advanced the profound proposition that education is self-education. Stiegler (2013) believed that technology always opens up two opposite possibilities simultaneously. While we believe that students should be self-educators, preventing technology from alienating people is still a matter of concern. Learning through technology should not create a world exclusively composed of computational thinking, as Heidegger feared, nor should it turn students into what philosopher Herbert Marcuse (2013) called the “one-dimensional man.” Instead, it should point to a fully accomplished life made possible through self-education. Regardless of the day and age, education will always be a human endeavor intended to nurture individuals to their full potential. Self-construction is a matter of the other, but even more so, a matter of the self.

Reflective educators, institutionalized educators, and self-educators foreshadow the rise of hybrid educators. According to Don Ihde (1979), an American philosopher of technology, the relationship between humans and technology and the impacts of the latter should be viewed from a practical perspective. The influence of ChatGPT on education is yet to be seen in practice. Indeed, in its current form, ChatGPT is not a substitute for advanced problem-solving capabilities. Instead of being confined to the current technological stage, our discussions regarding its impacts on education need to be forward-facing, particularly insofar as AI chatbots will wield an even bigger influence on education in the future.