What's the Point of School When AI Can Do Your Homework?

Source: Slashdot

Overview

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media about a new agentic AI called Einstein. According to its developers, Einstein can live the life of a student: it will attend lectures, write papers, and even log into EdTech platforms like Canvas to take tests and participate in discussions. Educators say Einstein is just one of many AI tools that can do homework for students and should be seen as a warning to schools that are increasingly viewed by students as a means to obtain a diploma and status rather than as places for genuine learning.

The Question

If an AI can go to school for you, what’s the point of going to school?

Perspectives

Advait Paliwal (Brown dropout, co‑creator of Einstein)

“I think about horses. They used to pull carriages, but when cars came around, I’d argue horses became a lot more free. They can do whatever they want now. It would be weird if horses revolted and said ‘no, I want to pull carriages, this is my purpose in life.’”

“Humans aren’t horses. This is much bigger than Einstein.”

Matthew Kirschenbaum (educator)

“Einstein is symptomatic. I doubt we’ll be talking about Einstein, as such, in a year. But it’s symptomatic of what’s about to descend on higher ed and secondary ed as well.”

“Universities by and large adopted a transactive model of education. Students see their diploma as a credential. They pay tuition and, after four or five years, receive the credential, which is supposed to be a springboard to economic stability and prosperity.”

“What we’re finding is that if forms of education can be transacted then we’ve just about arrived at the point where autonomous software AI agents are capable of performing the transaction on your behalf. And so the whole educational paradigm has come back to essentially bite itself in the ass.”

Paliwal on Institutional Change

“I attempted to change the university from the inside while working as a TA, but felt stymied by politics. The only way to force these institutions to evolve is to bring reality to their face. Usually the loudest critics are the ones who can’t do their own job well and live in fear of automation.”

“We need to question what learning even is and whether traditional educational institutions are actually helping or harming us.”

“We’re seeing a rise in unemployment among degree holders because of AI, which makes me question whether this is really what humans are born to do. We’ve been brainwashed as a society into valuing ourselves by the output of our productive work, and I think humanity is a lot more beautiful than that. Is it really education if we’re just memorizing things to perform a task well?”