Co-Intelligence: The Definitive, Bestselling Guide to Living and Working with AI

by Ethan Mollick

The biggest change will be in how teaching actually happens. Today, that is often by an instructor lecturing a class. A good lecture13 can be a powerful thing, but it takes work—to be effective it needs to be well organized, include opportunities for students to interact with the teacher, and continuously relate ideas back to one another. In the near term, AI can help instructors prepare lectures that are grounded in content and take into account how students learn. We have already been finding that AI is very good at assisting instructors to prepare more engaging, organized lectures and make the traditional passive lecture far more active. In the longer term, however, the lecture is in danger. Too many involve passive learning, where students simply listen and take notes without engaging in active problem-solving or critical thinking. Moreover, the one-size-fits-all approach of lectures doesn’t account for individual differences and abilities, leading to some students falling behind while others become disengaged due to a lack of challenge. A contrasting philosophy, active learning, reduces the importance of the lecture, asking students to participate in the learning process through activities like problem-solving, group work, and hands-on exercises. In this approach, students collaborate with one another and the instructor to apply what they’ve learned. Multiple studies support the growing consensus that active learning is one of the most effective approaches to educatio...