David Williamson Shaffer offers expertise on artificial intelligence on CBS58, Spectrum News 1


School of Education faculty member David Williamson Shaffer recently offered his expertise on artificial intelligence in and out of the classroom to news stories aired on CBS58 in Milwaukee and the statewide Spectrum News 1 network. 

Shaffer is the Sears Bascom Professor of Learning Analytics and the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Learning Sciences in the Department of Educational Psychology at the UW–Madison School of Education and a Data Philosopher at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

Shaffer
Shaffer

The CBS58 story focused on a state task force dedicated to exploring how artificial intelligence could change the job market in Wisconsin. Shaffer said it’s “almost impossible to predict” how the technology will change things for workers and employers. 

“It’s probably not directly replacing jobs — what it changes is the kind of work people do,” he said. “People are not going to be replaced by AI, people are going to be replaced by people using AI.”

In the Spectrum News 1 story, Shaffer said students using AI tools to cheat on assignments is one of the “least interesting” potential uses of artificial intelligence in the classroom.  Instead, he said he hopes educators will focus on how to use AI to create innovative assignments and classroom activities.

“We can construct activities, assignments, curriculum where we expect that what students will be doing is learning to work with these tools in order to prepare themselves for what’s going to happen when they leave school, which is almost certainly that they’re going to be using these tools in the workplace,” Shaffer said.

Earlier this year, Shaffer published an op-ed in Newsweek about the effect of ChatGPT on classrooms. He has been quoted in several media stories on the subject in recent months.

Read and watch the entire CBS58 story here

Read and watch the entire Spectrum News 1 story here.

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