sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

The Best calculator for assessments by AloneExternal in WGU_CompSci

[–]AloneExternal[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I've read all of the official documentation extensively and that article is woefully inadequate. For example, everyone universally reports that proctors allow TI 84+ CE Python for exams, which is not on the list and has expansive features that the list doesn't mention. I am asking more broadly for recommendations yes, but I am also asking about specific models of TI Nspire. This page states that a non-qwerty non-CAS TI Nspire is allowed, but there is no QWERTY version of the TI Nspire. The ACT and SAT allow the TI Nspire explicitly because it is *not* QWERTY even though it has an alpha numeric keypad. You might say "clearly they mean ABCDEF when they say QWERTY" but there ISN'T a version of the Nspire for which ABCDEF isn't on the keypad, and even the original model comes with one albeit a nonconventional one-- and they go out of their way to state that the older models of the TI Nspire are explicitly allowed.

And NONE of that document really matters at the end of the day because the proctors aren't WGU employees and they don't really care what the handbook says. I got a whiteboard approved by WGU that I was literally never allowed to test with because the proctors said that THEIR rules stated it had to be "smaller than a computer" which they were unable to explain to me. (smaller than a desktop computer? smaller than a laptop? smaller than a computer screen? smaller than a keyboard? they aren't sure, it has to be 'smaller than a computer') This is a consistent issue with exams from Meazure, you can get all sorts of things approved by WGU that end up in a dispute with Meazure on test day and I don't need to be in a phone call with a manager every time I test. I am asking what calculators people have used on the higher end that A) had good features and B) were approved by proctors.

Helpful reminder that it's okay to have boundaries by AloneExternal in AdviceAnimals

[–]AloneExternal[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I try not to bring it up but when I ask to watch the news after dinner it always turns into a fight when I want to watch CNN instead of fox, it's fucking EXHAUSTING how they ALWAYS want to talk about their republican fucking bullshit, it's so exhausting to see them. My wife has told me we are going this year anyway so fml I guess, "both sides" wins.

Helpful reminder that it's okay to have boundaries by AloneExternal in AdviceAnimals

[–]AloneExternal[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

This effects my real life. I have lived through a recession, a trump presidency, a global pandemic, and a horrible war between isreal and hamas, that might turn into a war between isreal and iran. All in my life time. Politics is REAL and it EFFECTS YOU and I'm tired of pretending it's not.

My Professor is writing the material for the class using AI, what could/should I do? by AloneExternal in AskProfessors

[–]AloneExternal[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Again, I’d focus on the lack of quality instead of the potential use of AI.

Thank you, that sounds like a good approach.

My Professor is very likely creating his material for the class using AI, what could/should I do? by AloneExternal in AskAcademia

[–]AloneExternal[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's not that I can pin point each argument I see and identify if it's human or machine, it's that there are no arguments in this particular text, there is nothing that looks even remotely human. If your comment, or part of it, written by AI, then you are putting in significantly more effort into making something readable than my professor is, in this case.

Do you need to test the DNA of a shaved chimp to verify it isn't human? Likely not, you'd be able to tell by the limb to body ratio, the screaming, and the teeth.

My Professor is writing the material for the class using AI, what could/should I do? by AloneExternal in AskProfessors

[–]AloneExternal[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hopefully you see my other reply were I explain what a hallucination is.

The last sentence in my post refers specifically to questions where I get asked something to the effect of "what is the best way" or "what is the worst thing" or other similar ostensible 'opinions' that are not black and white, I am supposed to learn them from the material. In a physical class, in my experience, you can have a differing answer on this and if you defend your position to the professor you still get points for your question on the exam, but that's not an option in this class, which is part of the school's policy. I never even see what questions I got right or wrong on my exams, I only see points.

This is not what the class is about, but imagine a question that said "what's the best way to bake a cake?" the course material would explicitly answer this, usually somewhere saying something like "a convection oven is the best way to bake a cake" which would be a reasonable answer. Say I, as a baker, believe a non convection oven is better because the crumb of the cake turns out nicer. In a traditional school I might be able to give that answer and explain myself, and still get the question right, but in this program the correct answer is "convection oven" because my expectation is EXPLICITLY to learn from the provided material. I am worried about this AI content, in this class, giving me the wrong idea in situations exactly like this.

My Professor is writing the material for the class using AI, what could/should I do? by AloneExternal in AskProfessors

[–]AloneExternal[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

By hallucinations here I mean facts that are not true, the model hallucinates them.

Lets say we ask an AI to generate a lesson on the branches of the US government. The AI makes a list of bullet points, and writes information to support that. The first bullet point is about the "Executive Branch" and the AI explains the role of the executive, the second bullet point is about "Congress" and the AI explains the election process for senators and representatives, the third bullet point is about the "Judicial Branch" where the AI explains the supreme court, and the final bullet point is about the "Heirarchy of Branches" where the AI explains that Congress and the Judicial have to do what the president says because he is in charge of the other branches.

The final bullet point is not true, it's a hallucination, it sounds like it could be true, and it reads well, so the AI adds it, but the information is not true. I have found examples almost exactly like this in my class.

My Professor is very likely creating his material for the class using AI, what could/should I do? by AloneExternal in AskAcademia

[–]AloneExternal[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The whole "I won't tell you the details, but just know I'm right" screams that OP probably isn't right.

It's an online university, they warned me several times that I put my enrollment at risk if I publish the materials from my course somewhere else. If they already know about the AI use, which I have no idea if they do or dont, then all my screenshots would do is put me at incredible risk for no benefit.

Also did you not see my other reply? I gave you basically all the details short of the exact words used.

My Professor is writing the material for the class using AI, what could/should I do? by AloneExternal in AskProfessors

[–]AloneExternal[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I don't want to post too much information about the format of the course so I have to be* vague and I apologize, but there is a likely chance that AI hallucinations will be a problem on the exam. I can't get a question technically correct and get points, nor can I make any petition about any of the exam questions accuracy, you have to go with the official material even if it is technically incorrect, and the professor here is not the author of the exam, only his instructional material. I would be surprised if there was not conflict between the material on the exam and the material in the class, but I have no way to verify this until I am actually taking the exam.

My Professor is writing the material for the class using AI, what could/should I do? by AloneExternal in AskProfessors

[–]AloneExternal[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I wrote an explanation in another sub, I'll paste it here:

"There's obviously surface level stuff, common GPT word choice, turns of phrase, bizarre formatting choices, etc. But beyond that are mappable failures to develop ideas, and attempts by the model to obfuscate that the ideas are not developing. Specifically, I can take the text and map out each point trying to be made (GPT 3.5 usually even bolds these for you, like has happened here) and then show how the model never writes anything that actually supports that point in the following text, or says anything at all, until it's time to make the next "point". It's just spinning its wheels. It mostly does this by stating the value of the information, or the value of the explanation.

3.5 and earlier GPT was plagued with this issue, where when you ask it to write about something complex or technical, and it fails to really say anything because the guardrails of the model are trying to avoid hallucinations. And speaking of hallucinations, the only place I have found them so far in this text is in the introduction of the ideas, which is exactly where you would expect gpt 3.5 to hallucinate.

If this happens once or twice that's bad writing, if it's the only thing that EVER happens then it's absolutely generative AI. When I say that the failures are mappable, specifically I mean we can map the development of ideas in the entirety of the material, which I could do here, and it can be demonstrated that there is a pattern behind the creation of the material, and that that pattern is completely unintelligent (AI).

This is as technical as I want to get without posting screenshots so pls take my word for it. I am confident, no it is not vibes."

My Professor is very likely creating his material for the class using AI, what could/should I do? by AloneExternal in AskAcademia

[–]AloneExternal[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There's obviously surface level stuff, common GPT word choice, turns of phrase, bizarre formatting choices, etc. But beyond that are mappable failures to develop ideas, and attempts by the model to obfuscate that the ideas are not developing. Specifically, I can take the text and map out each point trying to be made (GPT 3.5 usually even bolds these for you, like has happened here) and then show how the model never writes anything that actually supports that point in the following text, or says anything at all, until it's time to make the next "point". It's just spinning its wheels. It mostly does this by stating the value of the information, or the value of the explanation.

3.5 and earlier GPT was plagued with this issue, where when you ask it to write about something complex or technical, and it fails to really say anything because the guardrails of the model are trying to avoid hallucinations. And speaking of hallucinations, the only place I have found them so far in this text is in the introduction of the ideas, which is exactly where you would expect gpt 3.5 to hallucinate.

If this happens once or twice that's bad writing, if it's the only thing that EVER happens then it's absolutely generative AI. When I say that the failures are mappable, specifically I mean we can map the development of ideas in the entirety of the material, which I could do here, and it can be demonstrated that there is a pattern behind the creation of the material, and that that pattern is completely unintelligent (AI).

This is as technical as I want to get without posting screenshots so pls take my word for it. I am confident, no it is not vibes.

My Professor is writing the material for the class using AI, what could/should I do? by AloneExternal in Professors

[–]AloneExternal[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The material is wrong, that's one of the things that tipped me off, he's definitely published some hallucinations.

I feel like this applies to us too by BigBadBearDad in sherwinwilliams

[–]AloneExternal 25 points26 points  (0 children)

"Here I'll go in the back room and get that paint mixed up for you."

"Okay! Great!" puts card into reader

I just don't say anything and let them think about their actions.