Starting this fall, a popular *intro-level coding course* at Harvard University, CS50, will be taught by an AI instructor. You know, because Harvard probably can’t afford to pay human teachers.
The CS50 course, which is one of the most popular introductory computer science courses in the world, will be taught by an AI instructor starting in the fall of 2023. The AI instructor will be a large language model (LLM) called ChatGPT, which is a chatbot developed by OpenAI.
“Our own hope is that, through AI, we can eventually approximate a 1:1 teacher:student ratio for every student in CS50, as by providing them with software-based tools that, 24/7, can support their learning at a pace and in a style that works best for them individually,” CS50 professor David Malan told the university’s student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson.
ChatGPT is a powerful language model that can generate text, translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer your questions in an informative way. It is still under development, but it has already learned to perform many kinds of tasks that would normally require human intelligence.
The CS50 course is a rigorous introduction to computer science that covers topics such as programming, algorithms, data structures, and computer architecture. It is taught by David Malan, a professor of computer science at Harvard. Malan has said that he is excited to experiment with using AI to teach the course. He believes that ChatGPT can provide students with a personalized learning experience and help them to understand complex concepts.
The use of AI to teach CS50 is a significant development. It is the first time that a major university has used an AI instructor to teach a popular undergraduate course. It is also a sign of the growing role that AI is playing in education.
It remains to be seen how effective ChatGPT will be as an instructor. However, the experiment is worth watching, as it could have a major impact on the way that computer science is taught in the future.
