Perry Binder's Blog, page 2

Speaking on Ethical Uses of AI in Teaching with a Panel of GSU Professors

Perry Binder will be a part of a panel of experts at an online CETLOE event on Sept. 17, The Trailblazers: GSU Faculty Leaders in AI Teaching Innovation (learn more and register at link). Perry’s book, Innovative College Teaching: Tips & Insights from 14 Master Teachers, includes information about teaching with AI.

(only for GSU professors and staff) 

Using Google's NotebookLM to create Podcasts is EASY and FREE

Over the past year, I've made 20 podcasts with Notebook LM. For example, I created podcasts on pivotal court cases, such as copyright issues with AI, and two of my academic law papers.

Recently, LM generated a 7-min. MP4 from my two-page PDF conference handout on Embracing AI to Flip College Classes. 

LM now allows you to upload various items, not just PDFs. Also, it is not just audio - LM turned my handout into a video (took about 20+ minutes to generate) with PPT-like slides that you can edit.

 

The LM paid version lets users control how long each audio/video should be — an important feature because most of my past podcasts are too wordy.

https://notebooklm.google/plans

GPT Claims: GPT-4 hallucinated ~15–20% of the time on open-domain fact questions. GPT-5 cut that to around 5–10%, depending on the domain.

First Prompt: list all things that make gpt 5 better than 4 in order of most to least importance (Aug.15, 2025)

Results:

Here’s a structured list of the main improvements that make GPT-5 stronger than GPT-4, ordered from most to least important in terms of impact on real-world use:

🔑 Major Improvements

Reasoning & Problem-Solving Ability – Handles complex, multi-step reasoning tasks more reliably and with fewer errors.

Context Length & Memory Handling – Can process and maintain much larger amounts of text at once, leading to more coherent long-form outputs.

Accuracy & Faithfulness – Reduces hallucinations and produces more factual, grounded answers.

Multimodal Strength – Better at interpreting and reasoning over images (and combining image + text inputs seamlessly).

Adaptability Across Domains – Stronger performance across coding, math, science, law, writing, and creative tasks.

⚡ Performance & Efficiency

Speed & Latency – Faster responses with more efficient token usage.

Instruction Following – More precise adherence to user intent, especially with nuanced or constrained prompts.

Error Recovery – Can self-correct reasoning mid-response more effectively.

🤝 User Experience Improvements

Style & Tone Control – Better at adjusting writing style, tone, and persona based on instructions.

Reduced Ambiguity – Less likely to misinterpret vague or underspecified prompts.

Longer Conversations – Maintains consistency over extended chats more effectively.

🛠️ Practical Enhancements

Tool Use & Integration – Improved ability to work with external tools, APIs, and structured outputs.

Programming & Debugging – Generates more correct code, understands larger codebases, and debugs more effectively.

Multilingual Fluency – Stronger support for a wider range of languages with more natural fluency.

Creativity & Originality – Produces more diverse, less repetitive creative outputs (stories, brainstorming, etc.).

 --------------

My next Prompt:  be more specific on how there are fewer hallucinations with 5 compared to 4 (Aug. 15, 2025)

Results:

How GPT-5 Reduces Hallucinations Compared to GPT-4

Training Data Improvements

GPT-5 is trained on a larger and more carefully curated dataset.

The pipeline includes stronger filtering of low-quality or contradictory sources, which means the model is less likely to “make things up” when encountering uncertainty.

Better Alignment & Post-Training

Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback (RLHF) and newer alignment techniques are more fine-tuned in GPT-5.

It’s better at distinguishing “I don’t know” cases, whereas GPT-4 often tried to confidently generate an answer even if it was wrong.

Improved Internal Verification

GPT-5 uses enhanced internal consistency checks during generation.

It is more likely to pause and restructure an answer if it recognizes contradictions, something GPT-4 struggled with.

Fact-Grounding & Retrieval Hooks

GPT-5 is more compatible with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines and citation mechanisms.

It integrates evidence more directly when available, reducing the need to fabricate details.

Domain-Specific Accuracy Gains

Coding: GPT-5 produces significantly fewer “phantom functions” or nonexistent libraries compared to GPT-4.

Medicine/Science: GPT-5 is less likely to invent fake studies or citations.

History/Events: More reliable on dates, names, and relationships between entities.

User Feedback Loops

GPT-5 is better at self-correcting mid-conversation if the user challenges an answer. GPT-4 often doubled down instead of revising.

📊 Empirical Example (simplified):

In internal benchmark tests:

GPT-4 hallucinated ~15–20% of the time on open-domain fact questions.

GPT-5 cut that to around 5–10%, depending on the domain.

 

 

Revised Book Cover: Innovative College Teaching

  

Forthcoming for the new academic year!

5-Star Amazon Review for 99 Motivators for College Success

Very kind review:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wit and wisdom.Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2025Verified Purchase Wow ... what a great blend of humor, life lessons, and balanced wisdom. It really is a motivational book, without being too bland. It's pretty unique in its witty approach, and that's pretty cool to see. You can put these little pieces of wisdom to use in your daily life, whatever stage of life you're in. Great for students, parents, teachers. Pretty fun, and feels "real" :)2 people found this helpful  

5-Star Amazon Review from Spain: Innovative College Teaching

 Honored to get this review:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Guide for College Teachers

Reviewed in Spain on July 30, 2025

Verified PurchasePerry Binder’s “Innovative College Teaching” is exactly what new and experienced college instructors need. This law professor writes in a relaxed, modern style that makes learning about teaching enjoyable.
The book covers everything: first-day strategies, icebreakers, online teaching, interactive activities, group projects, and exam preparation. What sets it apart is the practical advice on using AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E for creative projects—very timely! Binder speaks from experience as well as through interviews with other educators for a well-rounded conversation.
Binder’s real classroom examples are incredibly helpful. His humour shines through, like when he tells students: “If you’re sitting in jail accused of homicide, never say ‘Professor Binder said it would be okay if I did this.” This shows how he uses exaggeration and humour to make memorable teaching points.
Whether you’re thinking of a part-time employment as a college teacher or a seasoned professor, this book offers practical tips you can use immediately. It’s written like advice from a helpful colleague rather than a dry academic text. Highly recommended!

5-Star Review from Spain: Innovative College Teaching

 Honored to get this review:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Guide for College Teachers

Reviewed in Spain on July 30, 2025

Verified PurchasePerry Binder’s “Innovative College Teaching” is exactly what new and experienced college instructors need. This law professor writes in a relaxed, modern style that makes learning about teaching enjoyable.
The book covers everything: first-day strategies, icebreakers, online teaching, interactive activities, group projects, and exam preparation. What sets it apart is the practical advice on using AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E for creative projects—very timely! Binder speaks from experience as well as through interviews with other educators for a well-rounded conversation.
Binder’s real classroom examples are incredibly helpful. His humour shines through, like when he tells students: “If you’re sitting in jail accused of homicide, never say ‘Professor Binder said it would be okay if I did this.” This shows how he uses exaggeration and humour to make memorable teaching points.
Whether you’re thinking of a part-time employment as a college teacher or a seasoned professor, this book offers practical tips you can use immediately. It’s written like advice from a helpful colleague rather than a dry academic text. Highly recommended!

Incoming Freshmen: Perry Binder's 99 Motivators for College Success for 99 cents?

For a brief period, you can get the Kindle version for 99 cents. Enjoy as you prep for a new adventure!

99 Motivators for College Success

CETLOE @ GSU Highlights Binder's Use of AI in the Classroom

Honored that the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning & Online Education wrote this up:

How GSU faculty use generative AI to support teaching and learning

Gratitude for the People You Meet Along the Way, from Innovative College Teaching

From time to time, I re-read the Epilogue from Innovative College Teaching...

“I live by two words: tenacity and gratitude.” —Henry Winkler

Fromtime to time, I reflect on my teaching career, looking to capture my sentimentin the moment in one word. Recently, I watched an interview with Henry Winkleras he discussed the ups and many downs of his acting career after the hittelevision show, Happy Days, ended in 1984. The word that stuck with mewas that he was grateful for everything. Grateful. Work hard and be grateful.During the ups and the downs. Appreciate current and former students andcolleagues, and all of the people you’ve met along the way.

Iam grateful to the professors interviewed for this book. Unknown to them, theyelevated my game as I edited their chapters. When students ask me about timemanagement techniques, I tell them to be strategic and efficient with theirtime. To learn how and when to say no. But if I listened to my own advice, Ilikely would’ve passed on a great opportunity. As I was re-reading about theamazing work these Master Teachers are doing with their students, I wasinspired to say yes.

Thisled me to take on the task of recruiting and coaching a team of three studentsto compete in a three-day international mediation competition hosted by aneighboring university. These students weren’t in my Consumer Law class, hadzero exposure to mediation training, and went up against many students who wereConflict Resolution majors. They had five weeks to learn how to mediate adispute and switch roles from mediator to advocate to client in mock mediationsessions. The same amount of training time that Rocky had to fight world champion,Apollo Creed. The students worked hard and performed admirably. Theydemonstrated skill, patience, empathy, and poise under pressure, andarticulated reflective insights.

          Author Dan Millmanonce said: “The journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination.” I amgrateful to the students who sacrificed their time during this adventure tolearn and experience something new. In turn, these types of interactionsfacilitate my growth as a professor and person. All of which motivates me toseek out my next quest.

 Click here for Innovative College Teaching

© 2024 Perry Binder

Perry Binder is a Clinical Associate Professor of Legal Studies, entering his 25th year at Georgia State University's Robinson College of Business. He is the author of several books, including Innovative College Teaching (2024), Classroom LIGHTBULBS for College Professors (2023), and 99 Motivators for College Success (2012).