Got a survey from a Berkeley student group who are “researching how AI-powered tools can support educators like yourself by improving teaching efficiency and the learning experience,” and started filling it out just out of curiosity…
…but bailed on the survey when I reached this (mandatory) question. The correct answer for me, not present, is “I rarely use it •because• I am very familiar with it.”
I feel like there’s a classic social science and/or philosophy term for the way a question can circumscribe its possible answers, and thus skew our thinking. What is that? It escapes me. Whatever it’s called, this is a classic example.
You can see the students’ assumption / agenda plain as day: “The only barrier to AI utility is unfamiliarity! Therefore we can help these poor benighted educators by making them familiar with it!”
“People tried it and it sucks” is not a thinkable thought.
@inthehands begging the question?
When a poll does it, we usually call that a push poll
@jenniferplusplus @inthehands I wonder if it's worth talking to them about it because they're students, or do we think they know what they're doing?
@jenniferplusplus
Yes, push poll is a relevant thought! The thing I can’t tell is whether the poll authors know they have an agenda, i.e. is the sucker here me or them?
@inthehands why_not_both.gif
@jenniferplusplus
Yeah, of course you’re correct: the best con artists believe their own con, or are incapable of actual belief altogether — and you’d think I’d know that after all these years of Musk and Trump and blockchain and crap
@jenniferplusplus I came here to say push-poll, so I'm glad to see you beat me to it.
@inthehands
@MattMerk @jenniferplusplus @inthehands Also “framing the discourse”.